Adam Browning’s Posts

• They are asking for it, really asking for it

  LADWP asks public for input on solar plans 0

  Posted 1 month, 2 weeks agoWhen it comes to sustainability, Los Angeles has its work cut out for it.

• Does the Wall Street Journal employ anyone who understands energy markets? 14

  Posted 2 months ago

  Actually, I think they do.

• A market-based feed-in tariff

  California proposes new program for 1 GW of renewables 2

  Posted 2 months, 1 week ago

  The California Public Utilities Commission issued a new proposal today designed to significantly increase the amount of solar energy installed in the state. It is kind of like a feed-in tariff, but different.  Call it a feed-in tariff v2.0.

• Can't we all be friends?

  Solar wars 4

  Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago

  Note to utilities: solar is popular with your customers.

• And definitely cheaper than terraforming Mars

  Solar is getting cheap 14

  Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago

  Much of the rhetoric against energy legislation of any kind—and at any level—centers on cost.  So advocates spend a lot of time explaining why continuing with the status quo is not a low cost option.

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Adam Browning’s Recent Comments

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  Cliff-

  Almost all PV comes witha 20 or 25 year factory warranty.  you'll need to replace an inverter after 10 yrs or so, but you can count on the panels working for much longer than that.  and the point of my blurb was that solar is getting cheap.  module prices have come down 50% in 6 months, a trend that will continue:

  http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE57K46Y20090821

  On Does the Wall Street Journal employ anyone who understands energy markets? posted 2 months ago 14 Responses

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  Sean-

  My point was simply that California and NJ don't have feed-in tariffs, but rather market-based renewable policies...contra the article's statement otherwise.  I agree with WSJ and you that market-design matters. 

  On Does the Wall Street Journal employ anyone who understands energy markets? posted 2 months ago 14 Responses

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  Tom-

  Every year the California Public Utilities Commission calculates the cost of the next marginal fossil resource, which is assumed to be a combined cycle gas turbine.  20 year LCOE are right up there at 13 cents...

  http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/energy/Renewables/mpr

  http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/Published/Final_resolution/95553.htm

  On Does the Wall Street Journal employ anyone who understands energy markets? posted 2 months ago 14 Responses

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  Dan-

  Can you please tell me the make and model of the panels on your roof?  Initial degredation rates generally level off around 85%, and modules can be reliably expected to operate much, much longer than 20 years.  There are many installations around the country still generating after 30+ years--in fact, the original solar cells, first invented in Bell Labs in 1954, are still operational. Consult google for more on degredation.

  Most manufacturers offer 20 to 25 year warranties. So if yours are failing to the point of being worthless, you have a warranty remedy.

   

  On Solar is getting cheap posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago 14 Responses

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  Contract for 92 MW of eSolar power towers, also cheaper than gas: http://www.pge.com/nots/rates/tariffs/tm2/pdf/ELEC_3481-E.pdf

  On RE less than G posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago 8 Responses