Comments Adam Browning has made

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

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

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

Sean, if your point is that there are so many imbeded subsidies and uncollected externalities in every energy source, fossil and renewable, to the point that it is impossible to say anything meaningful about 'true' prices and costs of anything, then I'm with you.  For whatever that's worth.  But if I had a nickel for every time I read a report putting the cost of solar at 50, 60 cents kWh, I'd be a rich man.  So this contract--with gametime technology, btwn reputable parties--is a useful corrective and a relevant point of reference.

no subsidies

davezet, no city subsidies involved.  this is just a financing program.  no cost impact to anyone but program participants.  

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

comment period

Note that CARB is currently in a 45 day comment period that ends on Wednesday.  The board meeting is Thursday and Friday of next week.  If you want to submit a comment (more flies with honey, etc):

http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bcsubform.php?listname= ...

You can see what comments have already been posted here:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bccommlog.php?listname= ...

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

huhn-

have you used the laptop tuner, amazndrx? how does it work?

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

nope

Tam, you've misinterpreted my analysis, and just generally miss the point.  Any one renewable technology isn't per se better than another--but the electricity that's generated may be.  Try googling 'peak demand' and 'time of use rates'.  Time and place of delivery matter.  As i explicitly stated in the posting, trying to run a grid comprised of 50% intermittent and non-distpatchable renewables is going to take a suite of different technologies, carefully managed so that their strengths and weaknesses balance each other out.  This presents a difficult (but surmountable) challenge in the best of circumstances--but trying to do it under a must-take scenario?  Again, there is a reason why just about every renewable energy trade association has publically opposed the initiative.  Renewables are the answer, but they need to be given the right market framework to meet the challenge.

One more thing.  For the record, the title of the post comes courtesy of Grist's editors--I submitted it with something much less confrontational and provacative, and am displeased with the change.  The whole thing makes me heartsick, and I wanted to shed light, not heat, on the issue.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

I'm the first Adam--see rankings to left

My point is that EE is not only cheap, but I believe that in times of trouble people are more motivated than normal to find savings in their fixed costs.

As for the credit crunch, we've been putting together draft enabling language for about 10 states (and counting) to allow for Berkely-style property-tax-lein financing, and will continue to look for other financing innovations.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

freudian slip?

hmm.  normally the phrase is: 'serves at the pleasure of the president'.  though in this case, 'leisure' might be more accurate.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

reply to bigTom

do you actually know that, or are you just making it up?  I know there was a University of Wisconsin study that put energy payback in the 17X to 39X range.  even if that was for a large windfarm, i'm not sure why it would be any different for a small system--the materials-to-production ratio should scale commensurately.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

easy...

...on the personal attacks--these are my friends you are talking about.  all the pig got et, so don't worry on that account.  and all hunters involved took hunter safety courses.  it was meant to be a funny story about plans gone awry, resulting in humorous midnight pork distribution.  humorous for everyone but the pig involved, of course--and on that account, based on a sampling of my friends alone, I'd be willing to bet that Pollan's book inspired a huge uptick in interest in pig hunting.  

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

indeed

it is for me, as i feel pretty strongly about the promise of solar being foundational to a renewable energy future.  however, your mileage may vary, and others may feel otherwise.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

au contraire

oh no, my friend. not a dud. there's things that should have been in there, and there's things that don't belong in there, but the solar investment tax credits are robust, and exactly what's needed.  The RES wouldn't have done anything for solar (but a lot for wind).  But the ITC is essentially a 30% off sale for solar nationwide, and is exactly what's needed to bring solar into the mainstream.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

china, apparently.

As per the email I got from Barbara Boxer's fundraising office today, reproduced in its entirely below:

Dear Adam,

Good News:  Tonight's rally with Vice President Al Gore is back on!  His trip to China to address government leaders there about global warming has been postponed, so fortunately he can now join us today in San Francisco.

I apologize for the last-minute notice.  We still have a small number of tickets available, so if you would like to join us please click here to buy your tickets.

As a reminder, here are the details of tonight's event:

Who: Senator Barbara Boxer, Vice President Al Gore, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and supporters like you at a rally and reception to benefit Barbara's re-election campaign.

When: Thursday, October 11th, 4:00-6:00pm

Where: Colonial Room of the Westin St. Francis Hotel, 335 Powell Street, San Francisco (click here to view a map).

Unfortunately, there will be no ticket sales at the door, so if you would like to join us, please buy your tickets online before 2pm today.

Thank you so much for your continued friendship and support.  I apologize for the scheduling changes and look forward to seeing you tonight!

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

no

no, i meant that state governments, in their implementation of the rules, could choose to allow regulated utilities to meet up to 4% with efficiency.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

thanks

good tip.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

hmm

What I meant by 'underutilized ecological niche' is that Jatropha can be grown in places where it would not compete with food crops.  In a subsistence agriculture context, that's what would--and does--happen.  I didn't bring Jatropha to Guinee-Bissau--I took cuttings from Samba Seide.  Jatropha has been cultivated for its beneficial uses in the Sahel for centuries.  I don't know it to propagate wildly through volunteer seedlings--never saw it happen.  Perhaps in other climates--but in the Sahel, I would guess it would have happened already if it was going to.

Its an easy to grow perennial that does not compete with food crops.  Farmers are growing it already.  If the nuts had value and could produce a revenue stream, keep this in mind: the nuts are ripe in August.  In the Sahel, that's the time immediately before rice/millet/sorghum harvest, when stores from last year's crops are running out.  The time of year has a name.  It's called the hungry season.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

hmm

Not sure I understand why you think Jatropha specifically is bad news.  The fact that it has some toxic properties is no disqualifier--so does a ton of useful plants.  For example, where I lived cashews were grown as an export crop.  Not native.  And toxic.  Never try roasting cashews around chickens--the off-gas will kill them.  Mangos--native to south Asia and a relative of poison ivy.  Manioc--or cassava--is non-native, must be boiled first to remove cyanogenic glucosides, and is a staple diet for millions.

It's not like Jatropha propogates wildly.  It's no kudzu--it grows where you tell it to grow.

And it can be grown in underutilized ecological niches.  I just don't see it competing with food crops in West Africa.  That's just not the way it works.

So I'm not sure what you are talking about.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

RE: grid/off-grid

Solar system owners have two ways to deal with night.  They can buy battery banks and completely disconnect.  Or they can stay connected to the grid and use grid power when the sun doesn't shine.  Due to cost and hassle-factors, most chose option 2.  And with option 2, if the grid goes down, the solar system goes down too--don't want to backfeed for safety reasons.  

So, grid connection is less a social statement than a functional choice.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

Energy payback

Sunflower-

A couple of years ago NREL issued a report on the energy payback for photovoltaic modules--that is the time needed for the panels to generate the equivalent energy that went into their manufacture.  The report showed between 1 and 4 years, depending on technology.  Check it out here (pdf).  For a product with a 30 year life, that's pretty good.

Evergreen estimates the energy payback of it's string ribbon modules at 18 months.

And the thin-film CIGS technology like what Nanosolar and Miasole are producing are reportedly around 2 months.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

Unlike many problems, this one is easy to fix

https://www.jerrymcnerney.org/contribute.asp

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org

Goose/Gander

Why are non-profit organizations that receive tax-deductible donations restricted from lobbying, but corporations that receive tax breaks and incentives (and in far greater portions) are not?

I'm not actually asking for an answer, but would like to point out that the principle that restricts 501c3s should also apply to corporations that also receive tax advantages.

Get Some Sun: www.votesolar.org