Tim's Comments

Hmmm this is weird. National is now going into competition with their customers who make PV mpt controllers. I would suggest all RE companies who buy National components to stop buying them right now!!

And to those installers who put modules in the shade....STOP IT... what are you crazy !!

Take care (and buy LTC or ON semi)....
Tim

I can already hear some political analyists on the right side say "...even solar experts disagree on whether PV is actually cost effective."

Experts indeed, aren't we all?

I have to agree with Hal about burning fossil fuels. This is the 2000's man, have we not learned anything?

 

 

Re: Washington state:

"However, the system is still not up and running due to delays in the regulatory process. "

Note sure your source here, but as I understand it, the system is working well. We can't get the 50 cents+ until WA made solar modules are available, but Silicon Energy is working on that....

 

Tim Economu 

Umm.. that should read 50 cents per KWhr.... (but the 28 cents per KWHr is available now, with WA based inverter).

Thanks Stephen for an overview of the condition of feed-in and net metering. This makes me think you should do a piece with a score card for all the states, to give our local government some feedback on how "green" we are compared to the others. It would be nice for us all to know how we stand eh?

While our new laws in WA are keeping the installers busy, we have not seen the explosion yet, because the highest feed-in rate come from WA made modules, which are not yet in production, and I fear that when they do become available, may be slow to gain acceptance. How many want to put a module from a new company on a roof? I am rooting for Silicon Energy though...go Bill!!!
Later,
Tim

I agree with the smooth transition idea, but please, lets transit!! It is a joke it continue to subsidize below-ground fuels, when above-ground fuels are so plentiful and clean.
Please pass this on to your friends, we need to get the bill pass WITH renewables now. I've phoned both of my Senators, I suggest we all do the same.



Tim

Note that the world record WAS set by this team, see  http://users.applecapital.net/~jim/solardragrace.htm for pics and the whole story!!

Tim

 

Thanks for doing the WA state update Stephen. Mike Nelson is a great evangelist for our production credit system, and was the prime motivator behind the legislation. I would really like to hear from guys like Kelly Keilwitz of Whidbey Sun and Wind, and installers in eastern WA, to see if the great new laws are really working in the market. Right now that 61 cents/KWr credit is not realizable, because there are no WA state modules. And the law expires in 8.5 yrs...so.... let's get cracking Bill, Christopher, and you other module guys and make some electricity!!!

Tim

Good status report on 4 months of living with California Solar Inititive, sounds like it needs fixing so that the solar business can get back on track. Question I have is that Washingtons production credit has received no report since it was first passed a year ago, and this to my knowledge is better than California's...

How about an update on Wa state solar economy, and how the new credits are working??

Thanks,
Tim E

Solar power plants are basically better than fossil fuel power plants, no question. Only problem I see is that it is, CSP is really only economical in a centralised power plant, it's expensive to put on every home.

Just as information had to be decentralized by moving to the PC away from the mainframe, the grid must ultimately be decentralized so that we can all better control our own destiny. As long as large corporations control the energy we use, we won't be encouraged to be the best conservers on the planet.

But if CSP can be done in place of nuclear or new coal power, all the better. At least it can be an intermediate solution.


Tim

Jerry and Sarah are to be commended and thanked for this development, and I guess with a million bucks they will be able to continue forward. What they have here is a triple junction concentrating tracking machine. What the prize seems to be for though, is the cell itself, since they say it is used on the Mars explorers. And so I would like to ask what the difference is between existing commercial triple junction products out there doing over 20%? (Sanyo HIT for example), other than the CS?? Seems to me...none, since neither of the more information references talks much about the actual technology.

Just wondering....??

Tim

All my years of engineering inverters (yes I actually build them) leads me the the thought I leave you with. If it seems to good to be true, it usually is.

If you don't go up to Chena to see the geothermal generator, go up to soak in the hot springs and watch the northern lights...and while you are there visit their fabulous Ice Hotel and have an apple martini. You will die and go to heaven.