I don't know.less heat on the ground shaded by solar panels in semi-desert or desert?
What %age of the surface of the 1200 miles between SA and SD would have to be covered to realize your febrile fantasy of solar panels directly changing the weather?
I only know it does cause some change. I will not attempt to quantify it. Consider however when we do start increasing the percentage of desert, covered by solar cells or mirrors.
I'm not saying the impact would be negative, in fact, I think it would be positive.
covering your sunbelt home's roof with solar panels certainly blocks heat, reduces a/c costs.
everything has negative side effects to be weighed against the positive.
It would take a of a lot of negative side effects of 100K of acres of solar panels to convince me that would negate the positive of extracting/burning less carbon fuel.
I didn't say it would be negative.
Can't climate change be positive?
What if... What if we cooled the desert just enough, that more vegetation started coming to life again?
Analysis of the Potential for a Heat Island Effect in Large Solar Farms
http://www.clca.columbia.edu/13_39th...d%20Effect.pdf
The video showed quite a bit of texture (circular raised areas) so I imagine traction would be quite good... probably noisy as tho.
I kinda thought it was an answer to a question nobody was asking. But as a foundation for Smart roads, it makes sense.... The solar aspect is just frosting on the cake.
I'd much rather see navigation aids in or around roads, plus correlating/voting input from high-resolution GPS, to facilitate self-driving cars.
Emina Sendijarevic tells Wired.co.uk:
"Research on smart transportation systems and smart roads has existed for over 30 years — call any transportation and infrastructure specialist and you'll find out yourself. ...
What's lacking is the implementation of those innovations and making those innovations intuitive and valuable to the end-consumers — drivers."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/14/302987616/dutch-test-glow-in-the-dark-road-of-the-future
but, as the Repugs tell the USA, "we're broke" (ie, their hated 99% is broke and their beloved 1% got all the money)
Consumers To Take Control Of Solar Energy Supply, Usage, Storage, & Costs
Last week we wrote that some utilities in Australia – particularly those in regional areas – accepted that the future would bring big changes to the way energy was produced and delivered, and that communities would use local renewable energy sources and storage to look after their own needs.
But what if that change came quicker than even these utilities expected? And if that extended into big towns and the suburbs of major cities? And what if it resulted in a reduction in electricity prices for nearly all consumers?
That is the scenario being painted to network operators and the utilities industry by global consulting firm PwC, which says the sector is about to go an unprecedented and rapid transition as dramatic as that which affected other industries.
Electricity utilities, it says, are about to face their “Kodak moment” and the key is the emergence of rooftop solar, and its ability provide a cheap source of electricity, as well as other “enabling” technologies such as storage and smart software.
This, says Mark Coughlin, the power utilities leader for PwC, will fundamentally change the nature of the relationship between utility and the consumer. It will effectively shift the power from the utility to the customer, be they households or businesses, and will challenge the very “right to survive” of the traditional utility.
“This traditional utility model where the company controls the ‘electrons’ and the consumer has little choice is on its last legs – this model is struggling to meet customer needs,” Coughlin says.
“Once a household or a business has a solar panel on the roof or some other power source they are no longer a passive consumer.”
He says that customers are now emerging as compe ors to the the utilities. “In as little as the next five years consumers will exert unprecedented control over energy supply, usage, service standards and costs,” Coughlin told the Energy Networks Association conference last week.
Coughlin’s comments, and those of many at the conference, reflect the fact that despite the common view that Australia has cheap energy sources, it does not have a cheap form of delivery of that energy from the centralized power generators to the consumer power sockets.
Hence the emergence of rooftop solar, which is already cheaper than socket-power because it has no delivery costs, and which is starting to challenge some fossil fuel generation, such as rising gas costs, on generation price.
This, coupled with the emergence of battery and other storage technologies, smart meters, and other software that allows energy to be stored and delivered at lower cost on a smaller network, is challenging the traditional business model of the industry.
“Smart grids, smart meters and customer energy management ‘gadgets’are only the beginning of what is possible,” PwC says in a new report Utility of the Future. Already we can control our home electronics and entertainment via our smart phones and tablets – why not our energy usage on a minute-by-minute basis?”
Coughlin says that these technologies – and new financing structures – will open the door to a flood of new entrants to the industry, be they telco, technology providers, financiers and systems managers, and existing utilities will also rush to form new alliances and joint ventures.
In data, this will include the likes of Google and Apple, in finance it will range from huge investors such as Warren Buffett and Macquarie Group. But PwC says it will also come from local sources. “We expect to see small crowd-funded energy companies emerge in Australia within the next three years,” it predicts.
“Customer energy contracts will greatly favour the customer – suppliers will have little choice in the matter!” the PwC report says, noting that changes to the way services are offered are likely to occur within three years.
“This will mark a major, transformational shift for both the utility sector and customers. “ And it will drive benefits to consumers. “In some cases this will see customers paying more for certainty of supply. In other cases we see the distinct possibility that costs will reduce for customers.”
PwC says the biggest challenge will affect the large energy retail businesses, the major brand names which in Australia include Origin Energy, AGL Energy and EnergyAustralia. “The existing shape of the energy retail business will not survive in its current state, given the atrophy of retail growth in traditional markets,” it says.
PwC predicts that the retail market will turn into a “channel fight” focused on costs and choice. The retail sector could be subsumed into other large scale “retail engines” such as data providers and telcos, and other in house service providers. And there is likely to be a big turf war with the network distributor companies over who owns those assets.
“The key will be who has ownership and operational control of distributed generation assets – these will be the swing factor in who can provide the most innovative services for customers.”
Generators will struggle because of the combined impact of falling demand, and rival energy sources, such as rooftop solar. In Europe, nearly $500 billion has been wiped from the value of utility assets – primarily generators – as a result of the impact of new technologies.
PwC says Australian generators are facing the same headwinds – as can be indicated already by the lack of profits, the write-downs, and the closures and the reassignments in the coal and gas industry. This underpins the reasons for the in bent industry to try and have mechanisms such as the renewable energy target stopped in their tracks.
“Contracting for long-term demand will become increasingly difficult as time passes given viable alternative sources of supply will almost certainly become available within 10 years,” PwC writes.
Read more at http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/10/...Pe5pWtHLir3.99
What happens when BigCarbon doesn't dictate govt policy:
Germany Generates Record-Setting 74 Percent of Energy From Renewables
Germany remains one of the best examples around the world for countries, regions and communities with dreams of amping up their renewable energy generation.
The country on Sunday set a record by generating 74 percent of energy from renewable sources, according to Renewables International.
The news follows a record-setting first quarter for the country, with renewables meeting 27 percent of demand. Renewable generators produced 40.2 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity during this year’s first three months, compared up to 35.7 billion kilowatt-hours in the same period last year, the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries told Bloomberg.
“In fact, there are no technical and economic obstacles to go first to 20 percent of annual electricity demand penetration rate from a combination of those two technologies, then 50 percent and beyond by combining them with other renewables and energy efficiency measures and some progressive storage solutions at a modest level.”
http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/14/germa...ng-renewables/
btw, the BigCarbon Senators just blocked an energy efficiency bill.
Last edited by boutons_deux; 05-14-2014 at 12:29 PM.
Hey CC, have you seen this.
CPS Energy Approves New Solar Fees
http://www.therivardreport.com/cps-e...lar-customers/
So much for renewable energy savings.
Hadn't seen it but looks like I am still grandfathered in. CPS would be nuts to take on the early adapters like me. I literally have a contract with CPS signed by both parties that spells out exactly what the CPS rebates and fees were and what my financial responsibilities were. The argument that we need too pay our "fair share" for infrastructure is bull . We still pay the going rate for electricity generated by CPS that we purchase. CPS clearly wants to kill distributed solar in favor of their overpriced "farms" where they pay 13 cents a KW for power they sell delivered to the consumer for 11 cents. Makes no sense at all.
Conservative assholes in Australia favoring utilities/coal over solar:
Abbott’s clean energy cull: The green projects we may never see
The systematic dismantling of clean energy support schemes by the Abbott government – from the carbon price, the anticipated neutering of the renewable energy target, and the removal of key financial ins utions – has effectively brought a halt to the industry in Australia.
Apart from a number of wind projects contracted before Tony Abbott’s election last year, or solar farms supported by the ACT government’s 90 per cent renewable energy target, the industry is pretty much at a standstill. Leading Australian renewable energy developers are pushing their focus on international markets, international players are re-assessing their presence in Australia, local manufacturers are fearing the worst, and the market is bracing for a jobs and a brain drain.
There are some 12,000MW of wind projects currently on hold in Australia, awaiting a market signal to unlock finance that may never come. These include 2,500MW of projects from NZ’s TrustPower, and dozens of other projects owned by foreign and domestic companies. An unknown number – but suspected to be around 3,000MW – of solar projects, both small scale and large scale, are in a similar position.
But it is the area of emerging technologies that will be hit hardest, as prospects for financing are removed by the conservative government’s grim determination to remove both the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and the $3.1 billion Australian Renewable Energy Agency – two agencies that could unlock nearly $30 billion of private investment in world leading technologies, and open the floodgates for billions more.
While ARENA has vowed to get on with business of funding renewables projects unless and until the Abbott government can make good on its Budget promise to axe the agency, it’s worth taking stock of what is at stake if the Coalition’s repeal of the ARENA Act makes it through the Senate come July.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/abbotts-clean-energy-cull-the-green-projects-we-may-never-see-76419
“Solar is great … but think in terms of the entire customer base.”
CPS is thinking in terms of how to maintain their profits, how to protect their monopoly, and how to kill distributed solar.
Austin’s Super Cheap Solar Agreement (5¢/kWh) Goes To Recurrent Energy
The Recurrent Energy press release explains that it received “an award from Austin Energy for 150 MW of solar capacity in West Texas. The power will be delivered to Austin Energy pursuant to a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement.”
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/21/austin-energy-cheap-solar-5-cents-kwh-recurrent-energy/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaig n=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29
==============================
Solar Less Than 5¢/kWh In Austin, Texas! (Cheaper Than Natural Gas, Coal, & Nuclear)
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/03/13/...-austin-texas/
Just got a letter from CPS confirming I am grandfathered in and not subject to the new fees. Sweet. That added about 20k to the value of my house.
boutons, self-driving cars. I see where several manufacturers are coming out with models as soon as this year. I hope they work as advertised. It may be something that keeps old geezers like myself and my wife independent. It wont bother me to sit back and let someone or something doing the grunt work fighting the traffic while I watch TV or read.
Just not sure I will be able to afford one of these smart vehicles. Article I read brought out some very interesting points, like what happens when you have a bad accident involving serious injury or death. Who gets sued?
too many $Bs from too many car mfrs and Google, for self driving NOT to arrive some day.
But XZ and I will be worm cuisine before it happens.
Confederate BLIND SQUIRREL news
South Carolina Prepares for Solar Revolution With Historic 105-0 State House Vote
South Carolina’s House of Representatives voted in favor of legislation that would expand solar energy in a fledgling market by a whopping 105-0 count, The State reported. A similar version recently passed the state senate. The final version should soon be on Gov. Nikki Haley’s desk for a signature.
The bill comes after two years of intense negotiations. It is considered a compromise bill between utilities like SCE&G and Duke Energy and green groups like the Southern Environmental Law Center and the S.C. Coastal Conservation League.
It’s nowhere near as aggressive as laws in other states, but it represents a start. Under the legislation, investor-owned utilities in South Carolina must buy or invest in more solar energy by 2021. They must get 2 percent of their average five-year peak power demand from solar panels.
“Across the South, states like North Carolina and Georgia have already moved to take advantage of local, affordable solar power, and this compromise legislation is what South Carolinians have been waiting for,” Katie Ottenweller, head of Southern Environmental Law Center’s solar initiative, said in a statement earlier this year.
“With smart, forward-looking policies in place, the state’s solar market can and will grow rapidly, bringing enormous benefits to the people of South Carolina.”
http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/22/south-carolina-solar-state-house-vote/
Nothing about encouraging distributed, rooftop solar, so as to protect Duke and other centralized electricity providers.
That many politicians agree...
bad sign.
How many tax payers are getting screwed?
"CPS is thinking in terms of how to maintain their profits, how to protect their monopoly, and how to kill distributed solar."
And San Antonio city council, San Antonio municipality owns CPS, won't touch their milk cow CPS which send $200M to $300M/year to the city bank account. I went to a District 8 citizens meeting held by Ron Nirenburg. I asked about SA govt promoting roof top solar. He blew me off, saying that was CPS' business. Next ...
the fkn monkey down here doesnt believe in renewable energy cause most of his rich friends are coal bosses and he probably has shares into these coal mining companies or energy providers...
fkn piece of turning this country into the socialist bull he left for....
U.S. Residential Solar Just Beat Commercial Installations For The First Time
The first quarter of 2014 was another big one for the U.S. solar industry, with 74 percent of all new electricity generation across the country coming from solar power. The 1,330 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) installed last quarter bring the total in the U.S. up to 14.8 gigawatts of installed capacity — enough to power three million homes, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
In addition to being the largest quarter ever for concentrating solar power, a method of large-scale solar generation that uses a unique ‘salt battery’ to allow the solar plant to keep producing power even when the sun goes down, it was also the first time in the history of SEIA’s reports that residential solar installations surpassed commercial in the same time period. 232 MW of residential PV were installed in the first quarter, compared to 225 MW of commercial solar.
The remarkable growth of rooftop solar across the U.S. is sparking battles in multiple states as customers, utilities, and the solar industry wrestle with how solar customers should be compensated for the excess power they send back to the grid and whether they should be charged additional fees for maintenance and other costs incurred by the utility. And those fights will likely spread, considering more than one-third of the residential PV installations in the first quarter came online without any state incentive, another first.
Solar-friendly policies like incentives are particularly important for ensuring middle class families are able to adopt solar power for their homes. And, as a recent analysis by the Center for American Progress found, it’s middle class families that are driving the rooftop solar revolution in the U.S., with “more than 60 percent of solar installations are occurring in zip codes with median incomes ranging from $40,000 to $90,000.”
This revolution is a threat to utilities’ current business model, since more customers going solar means they’re buying less electricity from the utility. The result in several states has been a push by utilities to scale back incentives or even charge solar customers an additional fee. In Arizona, for instance, Arizona Public Service (APS) has aggressively sought to undercut residential solar and last fall, the state’s energy regulator voted to add what amounts to a $5 per month surcharge on solar customers. The decision was widely viewed as a compromise, particularly considering the considerable amount of money spent by APS and outside groups, several of which were funded by petrochemical billionaires Charles and David Koch.
The fight in Arizona is clearly far from over, however, as a new interpretation of state law could lead to customers who lease their solar panels being forced to pay property taxes on the systems — a move the state’s solar advocates say is again being driven by APS.
In Oklahoma, the possibility of an additional fee being assessed on customers who install their own solar panels or small wind turbines sparked outrage and prompted Gov. Mary Fallin (R) to take the rare step of issuing an executive order emphasizing the importance of renewable energy and equitable implementation of the new legislation.
Even San Antonio’s solar-friendly ????
In this various battles, the utilities often claim that solar customers aren’t paying their fair share of costs. But an increase in residential solar not only reduces the amount of electricity coming from polluting sources like coal-fired power plants, it provides a clear value to the utilities that’s often left out when they argue for additional fees. Solar generates during peak hours, when a utility has to provide electricity to more people than at other times during the day and energy costs are at their highest. And solar panels actually feed excess energy back to the grid, helping to alleviate the pressure during peak demand. In addition, because less electricity is being transmitted to customers through transmission lines, it saves utilities on the wear and tear to the lines and cost of replacing them with new ones.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/201...at-commercial/
Board approves more solar rebates, continued net metering, new fees
CPS Energy is adding another $21 million to its rebate program because it wants to continue to support the industry, he said. The fees will cover the costs of maintaining and upgrading the grid, also known as the “cost of service.”
Proposed fees include a one-time commissioning fee of $450 for residential customers. Commercial fees would vary based on the size of the system.
New solar customers will also pay a monthly grid fee of $1 per kW per month. For a typical 5kW system, that’s about $5 a month. Grid fees will grow to a maximum of $17.50 a month as the program is phased in.
Local solar companies worry that this 10 percent decrease in the cost of solar may be too ambitious due to pending tariff cases.
“Ten years is the sweet spot for getting people to invest in solar,” (Solar San Antonio Executive Director Lanny) Sinkin has said in previous interviews. “Beyond that, people have a hard time imagining the return (on investment).”
Eugster’s presentation to the board noted that a 5.6 kW system currently has a “simple payback time” of nine years; that would rise to 10 with the fees and eventually to 12 as the rebate was reduced over time.
http://newsroom.cpsenergy.com/blog/board-approves-solar-rebates-net-metering/
CPS is rooftop solar friendly?
CPS is friendly primarily to its own monopoly.
the sooner the west is less reliant on fossil fuels as an energy source and start using alternative energy sources,
thats when the middle east would have to find something new to export.....donkey sex tapes?
China expresses 'strong dissatisfaction' with U.S. solar tariff
China's Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday expressed its "strong dissatisfaction" with a decision by the United States to impose preliminary tariffs on Chinese solar products.
In a notice posted on its website, the ministry said the United States had "ignored the facts" and abused trade rules in order to protect its own industry, adding that the use of trade measures "would not solve the development problems of the U.S. solar industry."
The United States slapped new import duties on solar panels and other related products from China on Tuesday after the Commerce department ruled they were produced using Chinese government subsidies, potentially inflaming trade tensions between the two countries.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0EF02A20140604
You would think the liberal greenies would realize that lowering the price point of solar is the quickest and best way to get solar accepted.
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