184 replies to this topic

[Rogerdodger]

As a obsessive tinkerer, I have been considering Harbor Freight's sale of $130, 45 watt solar panel as a way to power a summer air-conditioner. The number of panels needed plus the electronic controls, wiring and storage batteries make additional insulation look really cost effective and sensible.

[diogenes227]

100% OF ELECTRICAL CAPACITY ADDED IN THE U.S. LAST MONTH WAS RENEWABLE

It's just one month but further evidence of the increasing viability of renewable power.

[*JB*]

100% OF ELECTRICAL CAPACITY ADDED IN THE U.S. LAST MONTH WAS RENEWABLE

It's just one month but further evidence of the increasing viability of renewable power.

1 -- with EPA fast tracking what this admin. considers "GREEN" -- AND -- closing conventional power plants and stopping the construction of new ones, what would you expect?!? GeeWhiz, a Whole month.

2 -- end of the article linked -- "In total, 1,231 megawatts of capacity were added in January of this year compared to 1,693 in January 2012. The amount of wind and solar added last month was greater than the amount of coal and natural gas added a year ago. Experts (aka me) do not expect this no-new-fossil-fuel-generation trend to continue. Sorry."" Notice no mention of 1 above?

""It's just one month but further evidence of the increasing viability of renewable power.""

Not evidence of "viability" -- just government manipulation.

Just wait!

Edited by *JB*, 02 March 2013 - 10:09 PM.

[*JB*]

As a obsessive tinkerer, I have been considering Harbor Freight's sale of $130, 45 watt solar panel as a way to power a summer air-conditioner.
The number of panels needed plus the electronic controls, wiring and storage batteries make additional insulation look really cost effective and sensible.

I'd like to hear how is goes. I used 6 Volt golf cart batteries (VERY deep cycle) set up in series to make 12 Volts -- and -- then those pairs set up in parallel.

I had no access to the grid within 50 miles (small 900 sq ft cape cod/cabin) -- so I used a propane generator for well and A/C (as needed)...solar for the rest including passive solar water heater. At three times the cost I could have run it all with solar and batteries.

I sure hope the inverters are better -- AND cheaper -- now days.

[voltaire]

Washington Post: The administration's entire green energy/clean energy program was about politics, not good policy

The documents reviewed by The Post ... show that as Solyndra tottered, officials discussed the political fallout from its troubles, the “optics” in Washington and the impact that the company’s failure could have on the president’s prospects for a second term. Rarely, if ever, was there discussion of the impact that Solyndra’s collapse would have on laid-off workers or on the development of clean-energy technology.

“What’s so troubling is that politics seems to be the dominant factor,” said Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group. “They’re not talking about what the taxpayers are losing; they’re not talking about the failure of the technology, whether we bet on the wrong horse. What they are talking about is ‘How are we going to manage this politically?’ ”

The administration, which excluded lobbyists from policymaking positions, gave easy access to venture capitalists with stakes in some of the companies backed by the administration, the records show. Many of those investors had given to the 2008 campaign. Some took jobs in the administration and helped manage the clean-energy program.


green

Solyndra collapsed.

Yep, and I think a lot of car companies collapsed in the early days.

We should hve reverted to the horse and buggy.

And that stupid energy lot like Edison etc. Losers all.

[voltaire]

China, leading the world in renewable energy investments, keeps on chugging into the 21st century:

CHINA UNVEILS BIG RENEWABLE ENERGY AMBITIONS FOR 2013

A LOOK AT CHINA'S RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRESS

Nice to know to what government dictates our interest payments go...

And meanwhile in the USA the 19th and 20th centuries, despite the occasional bounce (probably one upcoming), have become great shorts:

Diogenes

In fact what seperates a failing empire from a rising one is the the former cling to the old time methods.

The latter are the inovators.

It was ever thus.

[*JB*]

And that stupid energy lot like Edison etc. Losers all.

Edison was a brilliant scientist and inventor -- NO DOUBT about it.

However, when it came to his efforts to produce and distribute electricity on a wide scale -- he was a complete failure.

Now, why would I say this??

[Rogerdodger]

Solyndra collapsed.
Yep, and I think a lot of car companies collapsed in the early days.

Here's the complete list of early car companies, headed by political money bundlers (like Tulsa's George Kaiser) which collapsed in the early days after bilking the taxpayers out of millions of dollars in a quid-pro-quo trade with politicians:

1. ...


(The list of mothers who had to leave their children with daycare strangers in order to pay the tax burden is too lengthy to list.)

Edited by Rogerdodger, 03 March 2013 - 12:56 PM.

[Rogerdodger]

As a obsessive tinkerer, I have been considering Harbor Freight's sale of $130, 45 watt solar panel as a way to power a summer air-conditioner.
The number of panels needed plus the electronic controls, wiring and storage batteries make additional insulation look really cost effective and sensible.

I'd like to hear how is goes. I used 6 Volt golf cart batteries (VERY deep cycle) set up in series to make 12 Volts -- and -- then those pairs set up in parallel.
I had no access to the grid within 50 miles (small 900 sq ft cape cod/cabin) -- so I used a propane generator for well and A/C (as needed)...solar for the rest including passive solar water heater. At three times the cost I could have run it all with solar and batteries.
I sure hope the inverters are better -- AND cheaper -- now days.

A serious bank of those batteries is not cheap & sine wave inverters consume a bit of the precious power and modified sine wave inverters make motors run hotter and less efficiently.
But I'm thinking that 12v led lighting might be more simple/feasible/inexpensive.
I'm loving the dimmable $30 led 120v retrofit bucket lights which I put in a kitchen remodel.
2700K color and equivalent of 60 watts @ only 11 watts.
Hopefully they will last the promised 25 years.

People have no idea how much energy is required to power bigger equipment motors, compressors and resistance heaters.
Hook up a generator to a bicycle and you'll quickly find out.
Serious off the grid power requires a serious money investment which will never see a return, especially when your panels are destroyed by hail, your inverters destroyed by accidents, and you batteries destroyed by age.
It's hard to beat the concentrated power found in carbon based fuels, which originally were formed via the sun's energy anyway!

Here's an interesting group of videos for solar tinkerers: http://www.youtube.c...4fV5MBgMyW2w88W

Edited by Rogerdodger, 04 March 2013 - 12:03 AM.

[stocks]

Wrap up warm, British gas could run dry as bitter weather continues

AFTER weeks of unusually cold weather, Britain has drained nearly all of its gas supplies

Households have been forced to turn up their heating as the freezing weather continues, pushing the demand for gas to 20 per cent higher than normal in March.

Gas stores were at their lowest levels for three years last night, with stocks at just 10 per cent full, compared to 49 per cent this time last year.

The UK could be left relying on expensive imports from Norway through an under-sea pipeline, sparking fears of a huge spike in energy prices, it has been reported.

Energy prices will soar if Britain is forced to make up the shortfall by importing more liquefied natural gas from elsewhere, energy experts have warned.

Analysts said soaring prices could result in the average family facing a hike of up to £200


He said: "It appears the Government is significantly underestimating the scale of the capacity crunch facing the UK in the next three years and there is a very real risk of the lights going out as a result."

He said the energy watchdog Ofgem had recently expressed real concern about the tightening of the UK's generation capacity margin that would follow expected plant closures in the next few years, predicting a 1:12 chance of the lights going out.


http://www.express.c...ather-continues