Wiley at JLL has claimed that CV is one of the sunniest places in NYS and he is getting that information from a Clayton based firm called Fourth Coast Inc. But that is like what a wind developer once told me that their wind farm would produce electricity 75 – 80% of the time. Meaning a 100MW wind farm could produce 1MW on any given day and still say it was producing electric power. It says NOTHING about actual performance. It is a meaningless statistic and people should know better.
Is solar actually a good fit for Cape Vincent Flagstaff , AZ , and south of Las Vegas NV Mojave Desert where several large solar plants are operating or planned right now. Not real encouraging for CV!!!
Hope you aren’t planning on running much solar for the next few days. PV panels will work on cloudy days but not very effectively…oh yeah then there is night too!!! Now I understand you can’t look at just 10 days out of 365 so let’s look at more information from an averaged annual point of view below. What about some weather facts?
Avg. Annual precip - 4”
Annual Average possible % sunshine - 85%
Annual Avg. precip - 38” This precip has to come from somewhere and that would be cloudy sky!!!
Average annual possible % sunshine – 46%
Look at Yuma AZ way down in the SW part of AZ near Mexico
Precip - 3.2”
Possible sun - 90%
What about 4th Coast? Here is what shows up on Google for Fourth Coast
It appears that 4th Coast is at least in part promoting personal solar and wind solutions, and I have no problem with that…remember as you read that I live in a passive solar house in N.AZ. Their Website is informative…however you have to look at ALL of the site that Wiley has posted. They are a site/company promoting renewable energy, including wind according to Google. That by itself is not necessarily bad but they are involved with not only personal systems apparently but it says commercial as well. That is that could be a game changer.
But the important part to notice in this header. They are a certified solar installer, and authorized dealer of solar equipment. So this is the choice Wiley makes for unbiased information about solar input in Cape Vincent
No I am not trying to marginalize 4th Coast, they may be a good company for solar or wind equipment, but do you think they might juust be a little biased??? That would be no different than asking BP if wind is a good energy and climate solution and do their turbines work well to that end. . Are you kidding????? Or talking to Carol Murphy’s Alliance
So let’s look at some less potentially biased information about solar energy from the neutral U.S. Energy Information Administration that deals with energy FACTS as they are in reality.
Look at the information below.
Solar Capacity Factor ( % of maximum capacity it will actually produce averaged annually:
23% Actually worse than wind. Research says solar capacity factors in the NE US are more like 14-17% So in the NE 85% of the capacity is not available when averaged over a year…85%!!! What if you ran a business and on average 85% of your work force didn’t show up????
Capital cost for PV solar:
Highest, more the double onshore wind!
Subsidies:
Over $24 per megawatt of production. Worse than wind!
And the question is, does solar energy that is still intermittence actually shut down any polluting coal plants or dangerous nuke plants. That answer is the same as for wind…NO, that generation is not taken off line for either personal or industrial solar. So why when you examine the FACTS are we suddenly so enthusiastic over solar, that in some ways makes even less sense that wind.
So why are we jumping on solar when in fact many of the base factors are WORSE than wind…and probably even more so if you factor in the NNY weather?
Let’s sum it up
1. Terrible capacity factors and production.
2. Outrageous subsidies. We have been throwing tax money at solar and wind for decades
and they still can’t contribute more than a miniscule amount to our energy production
and nothing to our climate problems.
3. Marginal weather in CV.
4. Will not take us off domestic of foreign oil or give us energy independence.
5. Highest capital costs.
6. No climate impact since big power plants still have to run in the background
7. Large surface area and habitat coverage for very little return.
So tell me again why JLL is promoting this, especially on an industrial scale and especially when it is virtually the same as wind. Does he have friends at 4th Coast?
Why is JLL using a solar equipment provider and installer who has $$$$ incentives as his source of information TO YOU. I would be careful who and what you read if I were you! We should be asking 4th coast what their actual numbers are for averaged annual solar capacity factors for CV, not how sunny it is. Even in the sunniest places in the US
As I have said I see no problem with personal solar or wind if done right and zoned . But I think personal solar in NNY is very questionable economically and production wise. Remember my pervious two posts you can go back and look at for information about my neighbor and his ACTUAL experiences with PV solar on his house if you would like some REAL info on the subject. Cost $42,000 before subsidies, $24,000 out of pocket.
5.1KW capacity, when cloudy it produces 1kw or less.
If you really want to conserve energy then there is one way to do it. Get off the grid using personal solar and wind power plants and conservation so big power plants can actually shut down and not have to run in “spinning reserve” I also know people who live of the grid out here, in AZ since we have so much remote land with NO grid..
And finally about my house look at the chart below from 4th Coast. It shows that home heating is one of our largest energy uses and accounts for the largest chunk of our energy bills. That is why my house is design as it is. It is passive solar to provide heating so that means I actually shut off the stream of nat. gas at times so I don’t use it as a fossil fuel and it therefore it is not polluting.
I will be watching to see if Wiley at JLL and his commenters actually put up some solar panels or go off the grid and put their money where their mouths are. Walk the walk not just talk the talk. After all 4th Coast is right nearby and sells and installs the equipment, so let’s get crackin!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment