More chances of afternoon isolated thunderstorms coming up so I ran to Alpine for parts'n'stuff. Hit the local health food store to buy some Kombucha (my new favorite drink) and alfalfa seed for sprouting to add to my new non-Spam meals. http://www.bluewaternf.com/ Working toward a vegatarian diet since it is much easier to grow veggis than it is to raise meat...plus, I don't think I can resolve the conflict of having relied my whole life on 6 degrees of separation between the living animal and my meal meat.
Stopped off to visit my buddy Bennett Jones http://www.alpinesolarsales.com/ and found his newly installed solar array... 2820 watts. His system is grid connected with no storage capacity set up yet. Nice thing was - when I showed up he was on his way out to check the meter and discovered it was time to turn on the AC in his house because he was feeding more into the grid than he had used so far today. 92,109,73,0,W
12 comments:
love that free electricity
Now that's a problem that everyone should have!
Photovoltaics are nifty, but the electricity is definitely not free. http://www.tinaja.com/whtnu10.asp#d05-28-10
Now John, how is the Grub Shack going to survive without you eating meat? Have you asked them to start serving veggie burgers yet? What about the other place you hit on Monday nights. Any veggie burgers there 2 for 1? ;)
Good for you on the vegetarian thing. As far as I can tell animal protein in any form, in all but the smallest quantities is just bad for you, not counting all the environmental costs. But even knowing all that, I still had a hamburger for lunch, with chili no less.
Loved the photo of Benita on FB.
I think I shared this link with you last year...but here it is again:
http://www.sproutpeople.com/
Excellent website!
Nat I understand that the equipment involved in making that electricity is quite expensive so don't take me literally
Glad you are giving the veggie life a try. Producing meat in our culture is depleting our precious water supply, and that is so limited as you well know. I'm sure the Grub Shack can learn to make a mean veggie burrito for you.
Mike- I realize you were just making an encouraging comment. However, not only is photovoltaic equipment expensive, the point made by Don Lancaster, the gentleman whose link I posted, is that no PV cell has yet been made that pays for itself over its lifetime when all subsidies are included in the amortization of its cost. Only remote installations like John's, where grid electricity is not available or is prohibitively expensive actually are competitive with the price of grid electricity. This should be changing in the next few years as new PV technology and manufacturing efficiencies emerge.
Photovoltaics are expensive, but they are a convenient way to turn the sun's rays into electricity. Sometimes you need electricity, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you just need heat. Take, for example, John's experiments, and other industrial implimentation of concentrating solar energy via dish mounted mirrors. Also, John's solar water heater and ovens are great examples of (nearly) free solar energy, entirely bypassing the need for electricity.
On the issue of meat vs. vegatables: humans are omnivores. That is, we eat vegatables as well as meat. A richly varied diet is best. Most of us eat way too much meat, and it would better for us, the animals, and the planet if we ate less of it. Best is a vegatable based diet, including fruits, berries (extremely nutrient & antioxident packed), nuts, and yes many vegatables, supplimented by small portions of meat, not at every meal. Consumption of cerial grains is not healthy for humans, except when they are transformed into beer or single malt Scotch Whiskey.
stick to that veggie diet, the wife and i took the plunge about 2 months ago and we are loving it. we are also starting to become friends with all the vendors at our local farm markets. it is also great for your body and the environment. If you are going to continue to eat meat try to find a local source or try and promote local meats to your favorite eateries like the grub shack and the starlight.
Nat, saying that solar is expensive assumes that you know how long the panels produce electricity, that you know what the cost of grid electricity will be during the panel lifetime, and that the all indirect costs of both solar and fossil fuels are part of the associated prices.
We know NONE of these.
Some current studies have shown that PV's warrantied for 20 years are producing more than their 80% (or whatever their warranted rating is) at 20 years, suggesting that some of the better panels may be producing a significant % of their rating at 30, 40, or even 50 years old. That certainly changes the amortization calculation.
As we're seeing in the gulf and in some recent mining disasters, the real costs of conventional energy is much higher than just the $/gallon or c/kwh. While it may be "cheap" to buy grid electricity, we pay for that cheapness in other expenses, increasing its real cost. All of these fossil fuel sources have been heavily subsidized in the past and continue to be. And IF we ever have to spend money on Climate Change remediation, that too will be indirect costs we'll all pay which relates to fossil fuel usage but was never factored into the prices were are paying today.
And all of the above assumes it's only a cost calculation. What's the cost of a case of childhood asthma? Or how much is a mountaintop in one of the coal states worth? I bet very few of us buy the cheapest medical care or food or transportation or shelter that is available. Usually the cheapest is not the best value.
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