Tag: DWP

Power Companies Driving Drunk With Power – If Only PG&E and SCE Didn’t Hate Rooftop Solar So Much We Might Meet Our AB 32 Emission Reductions.

Categories climate change, environment, fossil fuels, renewable energy, solar power, Sustainability3 Comments on Power Companies Driving Drunk With Power – If Only PG&E and SCE Didn’t Hate Rooftop Solar So Much We Might Meet Our AB 32 Emission Reductions.

It’s great that Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 510 on Monday. It lifts the current “cap” on rooftop solar from the crappy 2.5% to a BFD level of 5%.  The cap has to do with what percent of rooftop solar customers get to participate in the “net metering” program that actually gives them credit for the solar power they produce and feed back into the grid.

But forgive me if I’m only offering a near-silent golf clap of applause, because this whole cap program is a joke and doubling it from 2.5 to 5% is throwing a meatless bone to starving dog.

There shouldn’t even be a cap.  Everyone who generates solar and feeds it back into the grid should have not only net metering available to them but they should also be getting hefty feed-in tariffs too.

But if you read the news articles, solar advocates are supposed to be oh-s0-grateful and thrilled that the net metering cap wasn’t filled leaving no more room for new solar owners.

But as you can tell, I am NOT the least bit grateful and I’m NOT thrilled one iota.  The Greenius says, the state should call this the Dunce Cap program since it makes fools out of anyone who thinks this is the way to get solar power on all the roofs in California that can generate clean, green renewable energy.

It isn’t and it never will be.  Judged on the results, the current programs sucks.  Big time.

Continue reading ➞ Power Companies Driving Drunk With Power – If Only PG&E and SCE Didn’t Hate Rooftop Solar So Much We Might Meet Our AB 32 Emission Reductions.

The Solangelist Learns To Install Solar & Loves It

Categories citizen volunteer, climate change, environment, renewable energy, Saving Energy, solar power, Sustainability, Yes We Can!6 Comments on The Solangelist Learns To Install Solar & Loves It

I have to admit that for the first few hours of day one in PV101: Introduction to Photovoltaics I was dazed and confused by all the foreign concepts I was trying to grasp at once.  I wasn’t feeling very Creative or very Greenius.  I was feeling mostly dumb ass.

electricalequationsUnderstanding Ohm’s Law of resistance, the basics of current, amps and volts, not to mention the concepts of alternating current, Kirchhoff’s Circuit laws and the many fun equations that spell it all out – if you happen to read and understand those hieroglyphics – had me feeling pretty damn ignorant and out of my element.

The extent of my electrical background heretofore consisted of installing lighting fixtures and new wall switches – so long as they were replacements for existing items that got wired the same way.

Now my head was swimming with concepts of Joules, Coulombs and electrons all dancing about in the mysterious ways they create electricity.

And I was quite certain that of the 25 or so other guys in the room, every single one of them knew a hell of a lot more about the electrical basics than I did.

Continue reading ➞ The Solangelist Learns To Install Solar & Loves It