California Basking in Record Amount of Electricity from Solar

by
in science on (#2SKB)
The modern era of solar electricity got under way in 1954 as Bell Laboratory scientists unveiled a "solar battery" made from silicon that was used to power a toy Ferris wheel and a radio. In recent years, solar has boomed as costs have declined and government policies have favored a renewable energy source that can help combat climate change.

California's solar energy generation hit a record earlier this year, accounting for 6 percent of energy from the California Independent System Operator, which manages the bulk of the state's flow of electricity. Last year's growth in solar capacity was greater than all earlier years combined. The state backs solar through financial incentives and a law that requires utilities derive 33 percent of their energy from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Good news for responsible energy generation.

Re: Economics Still Not Quite There? (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-09-20 12:53 (#2SNA)

Hey Bryan nice writeup! FYI those 3 links all point to episode 1. It took some elite URL hacking to read the rest of your series.

Glad you like your system. A little surprised your payback is that long even though the investment was under $10K.

Just two critical comments:

1. What about that reliance on the remote Internet service for all monitoring and reporting? What happens if they go out of business? I'd much rather see a local option.

2. Your Leaf comparison is a bit slanted. That's a $30,000 car versus my well equipped 35mpg gas econobox that cost less than half that. That's an awfully big differential to make back on 50-100 miles per day (say $7 in gas) even with your "free" electricity.
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