Wednesday, December 5, 2012

almost off the grid stadiuim

ALMOST OFF THE GRID STADIUM
i have always been interested in solar power and how 
we need to harvest it more often for electricity 

if new houses had solar panels added over the life
of the house and in certain cities and states with the 
incentives and rebates the solar panels would easily 
pay for themselves 










at the country n where we live we have solar panels
sixteen total
that produce anywhere from 25%-75% of our electricity use
(no thats not a brazilian planking on that roof)

now the electric coop we use has installed digital meters
so that we can see how much of our electricity is being
rebated back to us on our electric bill
what it doesnt show though is how much of our electricity 
that we produce is used directly by us before it goes to the
meter for measurement

eg if we produce 15 kw of electricity and use only 10 kw that
day then the meter will show we sent 5 kw up into the grid
and that will show up on our monthly bill but not the
10 kw we used directly from the solar panels

so recently i was intrigued about an article about 
a new stadium for the 2014 world cup and later the 2016 olympics
in brazil 
that is completely a net zero energy stadium

the stadium which is a refurbished old stadium will have a ring of
solar panels around the roof 
because of net metering the stadium
will be able to trade power with the grid when needed

(we in texas and many other states have net metering laws that allow
you to send excess power to the grid when you are not using it 
then later when its needed you can pull from the grid
thats how my system works also)

the solar panels on the stadium will pay for themselves in 10-12 years
and will still be working well beyond 25 years

they also have a photocatalytic membrane over the roof that will
breakdown pollution from the air
50% of co2 production related to sporting events come from the 
transportation to and from the stadium

(for those who dont believe in the co2 pollution climate changing 
theories you might want to go ahead and invest in respirators for
yourself your kids your grandkids as they will need them if we 
dont change things)

they have 3500 bicycle parking spots
that would work well in austin

the part im excited about is they collect rainwater off the roof
wow im impressed
they use it in the landscape and with their low flow water fixtures

they use the plentiful natural light and also shade the hot brazil sun

why are other countries ahead of us in all this green energy stuff
and why are we about to lose our lead in wind production as 
congress considers withdrawing wind exemptions

they did this to the solar a few years ago and we lost out to 
the europeans especially the germans

why couldnt jerry have done all this in his billion dollar mansion
of  a football stadium
the montly electric bill for this place is $200,000
thats 2,000,000 kws a month
it uses the same amount of energy as santa monica california
does in a year

thats the american way i guess

the organicgreen doctor  

3 comments:

  1. Not sure if this is all correct but a friend of mine told me that in the UK they have a great solar program. You install panels on your roof and use them for 10 years at no cost to you but you don't get paid for the excess energy they provide. After 10 years they are paid for and you then get paid for the excess. Wouldn't that be a great thing for the state of Texas to implement?

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    Replies
    1. there is a program where a company will place
      solar panels on your roof for free then you will be locked into a set price below market value on your electric bill for 10-20 years. the company gets all the credits from selling the electricity to the electric company and for any energy credits involved
      not a bad deal
      also my rainwater brother lives in a city where they gave him rebates when he put his large system in and that plus tax incentives kept the cost of his system to about 1/3 of its cost
      within 10 years his system will be paying for itself
      yes it was in texas

      togd

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