Staying at home and working is not so bad. I didn't get this from slashdot but it is an excellent
resource that I use for targeting my marketing: http://www.dsireusa.org/
Click on a state, look under Rules, Regulations & Policies for net metering rules.
You can also look on my website http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar so see utility rates.
Click on the map then click on a state. If you see the utility listed you can do net metering there.
If you think that works for what you want to do, go to http://www.powur.com/mdsolar
and click on "Become an Ecopeneur" to get going. You'll need to take a 25 question test
after reading a 14 page training document on solar power.
Iceland sounds great. Solar power makes no apology though, having powered the Earth
for billions of years. Only geothermal, nuclear and tidal power are not ultimately
solar power. With huge production capacity coming on line, solar PV power is not
apolgizing either. Go to http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar to get affordable
solar power. Note, also, that building solar production capacity is a lot easier
than building new coal or nuclear plants. Build the solar PV plant and it just churns out
more capacity every year. Build a coal plant and then you need to build another
and keep feeding the first too.
I'm not sure I understand you. If we are to treat them all fairly, why subsidize any of them?
Should not coal power include the cost of the illness it causes?
Should not nuclear power include the cost of transmuting the waste to stable isotopes?
Should not oil power include the cost of millitary bases in the Middle East?
Should not oil, coal and gas have a surcharge to cover the eventual inundation of Florida?
All of these subsidies, higher health insurace costs, the infeasible Yucca Mountain digression and what that implies,
the taxes that cover interest on our borrowing for extended military activity, and the ignoring of massive environmental
effects distort the energy market.
Let us not look simply at the cost of generation, let us consider the cost of use an include it in the electric bill.
----
Disclosure: I sell solar at full cost (including disposal) plus profit for the same amount you're paying your utility now: http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar
I agree with you about diverse sources though not about nuclear power since we have no (energy positive) way
to destroy the waste. It seems to me though that one aspect of a mix of sources is that the
intermittent ones basically drive out nuclear power because it is inflexible. See more on this
at http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/why-renewables -displace-nukes-first.html
----
Disclosure: I sell solar power (see my home page).
We finally got snow today. It changes you're mood so even identical snowflakes can have vastly different effects.
DUST OF SNOW
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Robert Frost
or
It's snowing, It's snowing!
The cry is out
That stopped up our lips
The whole grey day.
At the dark window
New flakes dance in the street light.
-yt
Regardless of snowflakes, no two poems are exactly alike.
The answers about rain, sleet and snow are basically correct. The H2O content of the atmosphere is variable but basically
has to follow the dew point.
There is another concern which is leaking hydrogen into the atmosphere. Here is what wikipedia has to say:
Recently, there have also been some concerns over possible problems related to hydrogen gas leakage, (this has been pointed out in a paper published in Science magazine by a group of Caltech scientists). Molecular hydrogen leaks slowly from most containment vessels. It has been hypothesized that if significant amounts of hydrogen gas (H2) escape, hydrogen gas may, due to ultraviolet radiation, form free radicals (H) in the stratosphere. These free radicals would then be able to act as catalysts for ozone depletion. A large enough increase in stratospheric hydrogen from leaked H2 could exacerbate the depletion process. However, the effect of these leakage problems may not be significant. The amount of hydrogen that leaks today is much lower (by a factor of 10-100) than the estimated 10%-20% figure conjectured by some researchers; in Germany, for example, the leakage rate is only 0.1% (less than the natural gas leak rate of 0.7%). At most, such leakage would likely be no more than 1-2% even with widespread hydrogen use, using present technology.
I generally agree with what you're saying here except fo two points. Well, one point and a comment.
Under net metering, you really want to look at the electric use over the whole year, so when the
days are getting longer but the weather is not so hot, you can build up kWh credits to handle
the AC when the weather is so hot that the system does not actually cover you're use then. So,
say in hot weather your system covers 70% of your use, you can make that up by covering 130% of
you're use in another season.
The high voltage inverter makes sense, but there is a neat twist for the system I'm renting. Each panel
has its own inverter so the system is very modular. There is no need to worry about rewiring the
panels say to 2 parallel sets of series to expand the system. You can increment or decrement the
capacity easily by 250 W by adding or removing a panel. This is how the company responds to changing
electric use patterns to keep the total capacity at 100%.
In fact, no money is being collected since no systems are being designed yet. Before you are even asked
for any money at all, you're working with a brick and mortar franchise. I think you're accusation is ill
founded. This is network marketing. You can check the FAQ to see why. However, I discussed
customer referals with regard to early adopters, not the network marketing. There is no need to be a customer
to join the network nor is there any charge to do so. This is not a pyramid. If you feel all networks are a
scam, I guess you called it by your lights, but I feel this is legit and important. I would not be spending time on it if I didn't. Hope you'll reconsider your position and withdraw your accusation upon further evidence.
With slow light it is always the group velocity that counts, so far anyway. What is really exciting is that
phase is preserved. Think of how mind bending this is. Applications in interferometry are a very exciting
prospect.
----
Discosure: This is a bit of self-promotion here.
Yes, you're correct, there is a $500 deposit. And perhaps it would be be better to collect that
at the install though one wants confidence that the install is going to happen since it would
cost something for the installer to arrive and find out that there's been a change of plans.
Before any money is collected there will be ample evidence that the systems are on their way.
People who signed up before the end of December have deposit waivers and they will also get
the first installs. You'll probably see some of that on you local evening news.
I really feel that for some people a wait and see approach is best. Others will gain some
advantage from early sign up if their utility rates have been going up dramatically. In Maryland,
this is especially the case for BGE customers since the Citizenre rate is going to match the
current rate soon but right now people can save about a third on their bill. If you click the
map on my site http//www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar then click Maryland you'll see the
offer of 8.8 cents/kWH for BGE customers. BGE's new regulatory filings have 10.88 cents/kWh (price to compare figure in Schedule R) so
that ought to be in the map by the end of January and perhaps sooner. In Maryland, you avoid the
distribution charge so that is a part of my 33% savings calculation. People will still avoid that
but the savings will be lower.
I can think another slight advantage for early adopters: we expect to get quite a lot of business through
customer referals. Thus there is an adavatage to being the first in you're neighborhod to get an
install because it will be easy to send people to you're customer web site to sign up if they ask about the system
and then you get 5% of their bill off your bill, similar to the telco referal deals. You can't do
better than zeroing out your bill though. If you are the 21st person in you're neighborhood, there
will still be other people to sign up and the first will be maxed out so this advantage is not so large.
For the most part, I think that signing up now is for the decisive or committed. If you've wanted
solar for a long time, then this might be the right time. If you feel strongly about meta issues like
global warming and national security and you want to help, this is probably the right time. There are
folks who read slashdot who feel this way. There is no need to be a customer to get involved. http//www.powur.com/mdsolar
is a place to get involved if you don't own a home anymore or haven't bought one yet or if you're
place is shaded everywhere.
The cost of the war, $360 billion http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com _wrapper&Itemid=182 divided by $30K, this
retail install cost for a grid tied system comes to 12 million systems. There are 300 million Americans so that is one system
per 25 people, or maybe 1 for every 7 families (3.41 family size). If we go by cost to install rather than retail assuming 300 MW/year
production facilites, we get to 1 for every 3.5 families. Call it one in four. This is roughly what the grid can handle in
renewables without new engineering. So, yes for the cost of the war we could shift to about 25% renewables. However, we borrowed
to pay for the war on the good faith and credit of the US Goverment. If we borrowed to convert to renewables we could do it with
clearly secured credit, so it might end up being cheaper depending on how the financing is arranged.
At $2/gal (cheap by some standards) 500 gal or 1.37 gal/day. At 34 mi/gal that 46.6 mi/day. If your 5 day a week round trip
commute is 20 miles then you still have some left over for a long trip or two. The figure seems OK.
A grid tied 100% annual power system, needed to take full advantage of net metering, costs about $30K installed.
Spread over 25 years that's $100/month, a little lower that a 1000 kWh monthly bill at 11 cents/kWh plus $8 line charge.
Solar is competative with retail electric now: You pay $35400 without it and $32400 with it. (You always pay the line charge.)
Now, if you invest $30K, you might do better in the market if electric rates just go like inflation. They've been higher
than inflation recently. So, you kind of want to make a guess, "Can I do better in mutual funds on in electric rates?"
since you're 2007 dollars spent now avoid 2032 dollars spent on electric bills. (You actually have to integrate this.)
If you have $30K on hand, or if you can get a very low interest loan, it might make a lot of sense to do solar. But,
if you don't or can't, renting from a company who's cost to install is half what you would pay owing to scale makes even more
sense because you get all the benefits of service along the way. You don't get renewable energy credits, and that means
the company makes even more money, but did you really want to hassle with those anyway. Right now your carbon credits on
the Chicago Climate Exchange are worth only about $14/year because you're stacked against gas turbine generators rather than
coal plants.
If you want to get into RECs, you should be trying to do what the company is doing; aggregating them. Then you can hold them
or work derivitives or that sort of thing to make them worth more.
What is clear is that when you combine savings owing to scale with the retail parity of solar and coal and add in net metering, there is a lot of
money to be made. Remember, coal has already taken its scale advantage so it isn't getting cheaper. It is a funny thing that
the power plant Citizenre won't compete with is the Grand Coulee Dam, another renewable.
These are early days. The FAQ does not say the plant will be in Delaware though. You need to wait a while but
I have to say that a company that collects no money is going to have a hard time scamming. Again, if you feel
cautious, please wait. I see lots of vaporware on slashdot too, that's part of getting the scoop. I'm confident
in the company and the business plan even though is seems a little off the wall. Just keep an eye on it for now.
Thanks, at our house, my son is the big fan. He likes the trip to the moon. Cracker Grommit, we forgot the crackers...
I'm pretty excited about being able to convert to renewables so quickly and easily. It sure beats arguing about
global warming. Just do it and save some money too....
We're pretty sure we can get you past HOA covenants. For one thing, this looks a lot like the satellite dish
contoversy http://www.ccfj.net/FCClaw.htm and we're providing a similar kind of service to those companies.
And, our system might end up the right color anyway. Go ahead and reserve at http//www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar
and we'll work with you on that.
I agree that panel technology is just fine now, but why worry about warranty issues when you can rent
and have the panels replaced if need be at no charge and with no hassle. If you replace a panel under
a warranty, you still either have to do it yourself or pay someone to swap it out. If you rent, the company
can't make money unless everything is working, so they're on it. Look at the terms and conditions at
http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar
Actually, people in New Jersey have it pretty good. There is no limit on enrollment for net metering. If you'd like
to help get people there signed up for solar go to http://www.powur.com/mdsolar and I can get you started.
In states with net metering laws, returning power to the grid in the main point. With our systems, all these
issues are handled on the company side so you don't really have to worry about it. There are options to be able
to use you're system during a power outage, and yes, anti-islanding is handled. Check http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar.
We can do less than 100% systems in a pinch. You'll need permission from the condo association. Register here and
an engineer can work with you. http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar
Slashdot Mirror
Staying at home and working is not so bad. I didn't get this from slashdot but it is an excellent resource that I use for targeting my marketing: http://www.dsireusa.org/
Click on a state, look under Rules, Regulations & Policies for net metering rules.
You can also look on my website http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar so see utility rates.
Click on the map then click on a state. If you see the utility listed you can do net metering there.
You just don't have to depend on government spending anymore to convert to solar power.
a tion.htm
to see how we can convert a huge amount of our energy supply to solar.
Take a look at this flash presentation http://www.theneighborhoodlive.com/common/present
If you think that works for what you want to do, go to http://www.powur.com/mdsolar and click on "Become an Ecopeneur" to get going. You'll need to take a 25 question test after reading a 14 page training document on solar power.
After that just "Make it so" as Cpt. Pickard used to say.
---
Disclosure: I sell solar power at http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdoslar
Iceland sounds great. Solar power makes no apology though, having powered the Earth for billions of years. Only geothermal, nuclear and tidal power are not ultimately solar power. With huge production capacity coming on line, solar PV power is not apolgizing either. Go to http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar to get affordable solar power. Note, also, that building solar production capacity is a lot easier than building new coal or nuclear plants. Build the solar PV plant and it just churns out more capacity every year. Build a coal plant and then you need to build another and keep feeding the first too.
I'm not sure I understand you. If we are to treat them all fairly, why subsidize any of them?
Should not coal power include the cost of the illness it causes?
Should not nuclear power include the cost of transmuting the waste to stable isotopes?
Should not oil power include the cost of millitary bases in the Middle East?
Should not oil, coal and gas have a surcharge to cover the eventual inundation of Florida?
All of these subsidies, higher health insurace costs, the infeasible Yucca Mountain digression and what that implies, the taxes that cover interest on our borrowing for extended military activity, and the ignoring of massive environmental effects distort the energy market.
Let us not look simply at the cost of generation, let us consider the cost of use an include it in the electric bill.
----
Disclosure: I sell solar at full cost (including disposal) plus profit for the same amount you're paying your utility now: http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar
I agree with you about diverse sources though not about nuclear power since we have no (energy positive) way to destroy the waste. It seems to me though that one aspect of a mix of sources is that the intermittent ones basically drive out nuclear power because it is inflexible. See more on this at http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/why-renewables -displace-nukes-first.html
----
Disclosure: I sell solar power (see my home page).
Here is a bit more for you to consider: http://asap.ap.org/stories/1159211.s
We finally got snow today. It changes you're mood so even identical snowflakes can have vastly different effects.
DUST OF SNOW
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Robert Frost
or
It's snowing, It's snowing!
The cry is out
That stopped up our lips
The whole grey day.
At the dark window
New flakes dance in the street light.
-yt
Regardless of snowflakes, no two poems are exactly alike.
There is another concern which is leaking hydrogen into the atmosphere. Here is what wikipedia has to say:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_economy
---
Convert to solar http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar
I generally agree with what you're saying here except fo two points. Well, one point and a comment.
Under net metering, you really want to look at the electric use over the whole year, so when the days are getting longer but the weather is not so hot, you can build up kWh credits to handle the AC when the weather is so hot that the system does not actually cover you're use then. So, say in hot weather your system covers 70% of your use, you can make that up by covering 130% of you're use in another season.
The high voltage inverter makes sense, but there is a neat twist for the system I'm renting. Each panel has its own inverter so the system is very modular. There is no need to worry about rewiring the panels say to 2 parallel sets of series to expand the system. You can increment or decrement the capacity easily by 250 W by adding or removing a panel. This is how the company responds to changing electric use patterns to keep the total capacity at 100%.
There is a flash description of the system at http://wwww.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar at the icon labled "How Solar Energy Works."
OK, I'll let you know when the site is announced.
In fact, no money is being collected since no systems are being designed yet. Before you are even asked for any money at all, you're working with a brick and mortar franchise. I think you're accusation is ill founded. This is network marketing. You can check the FAQ to see why. However, I discussed customer referals with regard to early adopters, not the network marketing. There is no need to be a customer to join the network nor is there any charge to do so. This is not a pyramid. If you feel all networks are a scam, I guess you called it by your lights, but I feel this is legit and important. I would not be spending time on it if I didn't. Hope you'll reconsider your position and withdraw your accusation upon further evidence.
With slow light it is always the group velocity that counts, so far anyway. What is really exciting is that phase is preserved. Think of how mind bending this is. Applications in interferometry are a very exciting prospect.
----
Discosure: This is a bit of self-promotion here.
Yes, you're correct, there is a $500 deposit. And perhaps it would be be better to collect that at the install though one wants confidence that the install is going to happen since it would cost something for the installer to arrive and find out that there's been a change of plans.
Before any money is collected there will be ample evidence that the systems are on their way. People who signed up before the end of December have deposit waivers and they will also get the first installs. You'll probably see some of that on you local evening news.
I really feel that for some people a wait and see approach is best. Others will gain some advantage from early sign up if their utility rates have been going up dramatically. In Maryland, this is especially the case for BGE customers since the Citizenre rate is going to match the current rate soon but right now people can save about a third on their bill. If you click the map on my site http//www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar then click Maryland you'll see the offer of 8.8 cents/kWH for BGE customers. BGE's new regulatory filings have 10.88 cents/kWh (price to compare figure in Schedule R) so that ought to be in the map by the end of January and perhaps sooner. In Maryland, you avoid the distribution charge so that is a part of my 33% savings calculation. People will still avoid that but the savings will be lower.
I can think another slight advantage for early adopters: we expect to get quite a lot of business through customer referals. Thus there is an adavatage to being the first in you're neighborhod to get an install because it will be easy to send people to you're customer web site to sign up if they ask about the system and then you get 5% of their bill off your bill, similar to the telco referal deals. You can't do better than zeroing out your bill though. If you are the 21st person in you're neighborhood, there will still be other people to sign up and the first will be maxed out so this advantage is not so large.
For the most part, I think that signing up now is for the decisive or committed. If you've wanted solar for a long time, then this might be the right time. If you feel strongly about meta issues like global warming and national security and you want to help, this is probably the right time. There are folks who read slashdot who feel this way. There is no need to be a customer to get involved. http//www.powur.com/mdsolar is a place to get involved if you don't own a home anymore or haven't bought one yet or if you're place is shaded everywhere.
The cost of the war, $360 billion http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com _wrapper&Itemid=182 divided by $30K, this
retail install cost for a grid tied system comes to 12 million systems. There are 300 million Americans so that is one system
per 25 people, or maybe 1 for every 7 families (3.41 family size). If we go by cost to install rather than retail assuming 300 MW/year
production facilites, we get to 1 for every 3.5 families. Call it one in four. This is roughly what the grid can handle in
renewables without new engineering. So, yes for the cost of the war we could shift to about 25% renewables. However, we borrowed
to pay for the war on the good faith and credit of the US Goverment. If we borrowed to convert to renewables we could do it with
clearly secured credit, so it might end up being cheaper depending on how the financing is arranged.
At $2/gal (cheap by some standards) 500 gal or 1.37 gal/day. At 34 mi/gal that 46.6 mi/day. If your 5 day a week round trip commute is 20 miles then you still have some left over for a long trip or two. The figure seems OK.
I can take you're order by phone if you like. Leave a message at 877 367-6576 toll free.
A grid tied 100% annual power system, needed to take full advantage of net metering, costs about $30K installed. Spread over 25 years that's $100/month, a little lower that a 1000 kWh monthly bill at 11 cents/kWh plus $8 line charge.
Solar is competative with retail electric now: You pay $35400 without it and $32400 with it. (You always pay the line charge.)
Now, if you invest $30K, you might do better in the market if electric rates just go like inflation. They've been higher than inflation recently. So, you kind of want to make a guess, "Can I do better in mutual funds on in electric rates?" since you're 2007 dollars spent now avoid 2032 dollars spent on electric bills. (You actually have to integrate this.)
If you have $30K on hand, or if you can get a very low interest loan, it might make a lot of sense to do solar. But, if you don't or can't, renting from a company who's cost to install is half what you would pay owing to scale makes even more sense because you get all the benefits of service along the way. You don't get renewable energy credits, and that means the company makes even more money, but did you really want to hassle with those anyway. Right now your carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange are worth only about $14/year because you're stacked against gas turbine generators rather than coal plants.
If you want to get into RECs, you should be trying to do what the company is doing; aggregating them. Then you can hold them or work derivitives or that sort of thing to make them worth more.
What is clear is that when you combine savings owing to scale with the retail parity of solar and coal and add in net metering, there is a lot of money to be made. Remember, coal has already taken its scale advantage so it isn't getting cheaper. It is a funny thing that the power plant Citizenre won't compete with is the Grand Coulee Dam, another renewable.
To get involved goto http://www.powur.com/mdsolar.
These are early days. The FAQ does not say the plant will be in Delaware though. You need to wait a while but I have to say that a company that collects no money is going to have a hard time scamming. Again, if you feel cautious, please wait. I see lots of vaporware on slashdot too, that's part of getting the scoop. I'm confident in the company and the business plan even though is seems a little off the wall. Just keep an eye on it for now.
Thanks, at our house, my son is the big fan. He likes the trip to the moon. Cracker Grommit, we forgot the crackers...
I'm pretty excited about being able to convert to renewables so quickly and easily. It sure beats arguing about global warming. Just do it and save some money too....
It is possible to produce panels using renewable sources of energy as well, such as hydo.
We're pretty sure we can get you past HOA covenants. For one thing, this looks a lot like the satellite dish contoversy http://www.ccfj.net/FCClaw.htm and we're providing a similar kind of service to those companies. And, our system might end up the right color anyway. Go ahead and reserve at http//www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar and we'll work with you on that.
I agree that panel technology is just fine now, but why worry about warranty issues when you can rent and have the panels replaced if need be at no charge and with no hassle. If you replace a panel under a warranty, you still either have to do it yourself or pay someone to swap it out. If you rent, the company can't make money unless everything is working, so they're on it. Look at the terms and conditions at http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar
Actually, people in New Jersey have it pretty good. There is no limit on enrollment for net metering. If you'd like to help get people there signed up for solar go to http://www.powur.com/mdsolar and I can get you started.
In states with net metering laws, returning power to the grid in the main point. With our systems, all these issues are handled on the company side so you don't really have to worry about it. There are options to be able to use you're system during a power outage, and yes, anti-islanding is handled. Check http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar.
We can do less than 100% systems in a pinch. You'll need permission from the condo association. Register here and an engineer can work with you. http://www.jointhesolution.com/mdsolar