Comments on: An all solar city? Not exactly

By: Justin Hoysradt

Justin Hoysradt — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 14:05:14 +0000

Way to see past the hype. The new Senate bill to fund the Renewable portfolio standard that the article refers to as the legislature is Senate Bill SB 1154. Provides a 2% rate increase and 1% gas tax to provide funding for utilities to invest in renewable energy projects. The bill lacks a residential solar carve out. So rather than create a rebate program for the general public to create a distributed energy grid and purchase their own solar power, the utility may use the money to build large systems and continue to sell power to the public – locally and vertically integrated.

Great post.

Justin

By: Ed Reid

Ed Reid — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:26:06 +0000

D.O.U.G.,

You were quite gentle here.

On winter weekday mornings, it would be very likely that the lights and both hair dryers would be in use before the sun was high enough in the sky to be useful.

Were your AC units heat pumps, both would likely also be on, recovering from night setback. In the extreme, they might both be on the strip heaters instead.

I am really negative about the concept that the “borrow/lend type of virtual storage” should be provided free, although that is probably less of an issue with solar than with wind.

By: D.O.U.G.

D.O.U.G. — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:57:53 +0000

If I stretch my imagination, I can see both 2 and 3 being literally true. 3 specifies kWh, but 2 uses the unspecific term “electric needs.” If the solar source is large enough to cover most of the development’s peak *demand*, then it may well generate more *energy* than the total consumed by the development. The rub is that the energy generated and the energy consumed would have different “time-shapes,” with the obviously required grid connection providing a borrow/lend type of virtual storage.

Where I disagree with such wording is that I want to take the word “powered” literally. To me, it’s not “powered” entirely by solar. In the same sense, it isn’t true that a megawatt can “power” 500-1000 homes, as variously stated in the media. (I used to have nearly a kW of lights in my master bathroom, and my wife and daughter both use 1.5kW hair dryers, sometimes simultaneously. Already at 4kW, what if both of my AC units are on?) What is true is that a megawatt of capacity can generate enough *energy* to equal that consumed by 500-1000 “typical” homes, meaning average consumption per residential meter. But a megawatt isn’t near enough to “power” that many typical homes, in my lexicon. But alas, these terms aren’t really as specific as I’d like them to be.

By: Kirk

Kirk — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 11:21:27 +0000

Yes, sadly, we have a long way to go to remove the regulatory underbrush that impedes consumers from facing the real incentives that result from electricity generation technology. Thanks for your careful fisking of the marketing claims by Florida Power and Light. You are providing a service to the residents of Florida.