solar helps

SOLAR HELPS

here at the country n we have solar panels

16 of them 

that can generate up to 15 kw of electricity each

if the stars align themselves just right

which

you know in real life they never do 

so if  we have a perfectly sunny day in the summer

maybe around the longest day 

we can reach that 15 kwh a day

throw in a little dust on the panels

or 

a few clouds passing over

or

a small summer shower

then that number will drop 

even on a cloudy day we can produce several kwh of electricity

this year we havent had a lot of rain and clouds 

so we have had a lot of sun

so we have produced more electricity than usual

so here is how it all works here at the country n

first the sun hits the panels which are situated on our barn

that obstruction there that planking ogd could block some 

of the solar production

from there it goes to an inverter inside the barn

which converts the dc current to ac current

from there it goes to my electric box and meter

from there it either goes into the house 

or

up the power line out into the lines along the road

and somewhere along the way it get sucked up 

by neighbors and businesses down the line

now someone off the grid

like our friend in utah

uses the electricity as its produced and any 

excess is stored in big old batteries for future use

since we live in texas 

at the country n and those of us in texas

do net metering where any excess goes into the grid

here is a copy of my last electric bill

they charged me $22.50 to be just hooked up to the system 

the amount of electricity that went through my meter was 702 kwh

the amount of electricity that went through the meter that was

produced by the country n was 152 kwh

leaving us a net amount of 550 kwh to pay for

of course what you dont see on the bill is the amount we used

that came directly from our solar panels during the day

since it was a sunny month that could be 0-300 kwh

it was probably closer to the 300 number

i am not as ocd as i use to be about doing this calculation

so when the suns shining during the day our meter is either not 

moving

or 

its spinning backwards

its hard to describe what it feels like to watch your

electric meter spin backwards

there are only a few things in this world that tops this

you can figure out what those are

if i want to know in our system how much we used of our electricity

that did not go through the meter

i have to do a  monthly reading 

on my inverter to calculate that number

ive had the system too long now so i never do that calculation

i am not as ocd about it as i use to be

 

so most of our electricity we buy occurs after the sun goes down

so our bill then was

$22.50 for just being hooked up

$57.86 for their electricity

$15.99 credit for my electricity that went up to the grid

with ?$ of electricity used directly 

easily calculated if i wanted to do it again

the most electricity we could produce under maximum conditions

would be 450 kwh a month

so this last month we consumed 702 kwh

if it was a perfect month we would have only bought 252 kwh 

now my rainwater brothers system is a newer one 

his meters tell him how much he produced

how much he used of his electricity and of theirs 

how much the electric company bought or credited him

all i know is it feels good to watch my meter go backwards sometimes

and 

to know that a good portion of our electricity we consume

we produced our selves

that 

is what net metering means

the organicgreen doctor

colorados lighting up

COLORADOS LIGHTING UP

this is not about their new weed law

which went into effect on january 1

business is booming there it seems

so is the solar industry

the cost of solar panels have decreased a lot so that

more and more people in colorado are putting up

solar panels on their roofs to generate their own 

electricity 

during the day

the way this works is if you dont store the electricity 

in batteries which are expensive is that as the 

electricity is generated it goes eg at the country n here

it goes to our house first

if its not needed it then goes to the electrical lines 

connected to my meter then goes out to i guess

whoever needs it next

maybe my neighbors

at the end of the month the electric company

takes the total electricity i used

subtracts the total amount of excess electricity i produced

(that doesnt include what i used as it was being produced)

to come up with a total amount that im billed for

eg

i produced 500 kw this month

i only used 200 kw of it

the other 300 kw went up into the grid

i used 1000 kw total

so i get billed for 700 kw

if i produced more than i used then i get a credit

but

have to pay $20+ to just be hooked up to the system

thats called net metering

if they give me credit its at wholesale price

if i have to buy its at retail price

thats one of the rubs between solar producers like me

and the electric companies

plus they want to charge another fee for use of their lines etc

(this house in the above picture is completely off the grid

and stores its electricity in large batteries

he doesnt have to worry about any of this)

in arizona and they are trying to do this in california 

and colorado they want to charge $50 but the electric commission 

said no you can only charge $5

so if i lived in arizona i would pay $25+ before i use any electricity 

california is trying to make it $100

im sure texas is not far behind

its whoever has the most political influence

ie cash

the other problem thats happening is that there are more and 

more homeowners producing electricity such that there is a 

surplus during the day that goes away when the sun goes down

the electric companies havent figured out how to store or use

this excess electricity 

they are looking at massive battery banks that are expensive

so it seems its going to be a battle between the large electric

companies and the solar industry and us homeowners

we know who probably has the most influence 

right

the organicgreen doctor

he giveth they taketh away

HE GIVETH THEY TAKETH AWAY
based on what your religion is that power
in some religions its the sun itself
created and maintains the sun which radiates its
solar waves down to the earth and warms up the earth

for those of us who happen to have solar panels we are
able to capture those rays and through technology convert
those rays to electricity which then goes to my house for
use in all those electrical gizmos we have on inside
if
there is more electricity produced than what we use in the
home
it goes back up the light pole to the power lines and as ive
found out it is used by the nearest neighbor who needs electricity

for me
the meter well the old did would just spin backwards as
that happened

an almost orgasmic event if you are a real solar advocate
not so much
if you are the electric company

that is called net metering
now with digital meters they can measure how much you produce
totally
how much you use of your electricity
how much you use of their electricity
and
how much got sent up back into the grid
and
thats the number that gradually overtime pays for your solar system

of course our electric utility company charges us about $30 a month
just to be hooked up to the system

some electric companies the progressive ones want as many people as
possible with solar panels on their roofs as thats less electricity they
have to ship in from somewhere else
and possibly eliminate the need to build some electricity generating plants
a win win for everyone
right

well not according to some utilities
they want to charge us solar collectors more money
some estimate the cost would be $50-100 a month to just be
hooked up to the grid

heck my electric bill is never that much except in extreme times
like mid summer or mid winter

we get retail price that is the price they charge us for their electricity
seems fair to me
they want to give us wholesale price for our electricity we produce
plus charge that extra fee which for us they already do

so i guess it will come down to who has the most political influence
the electric companies or the solar companies
history tells us it the former not the latter

could something like this slow down or stop net metering and the
benefits we all gain from its availability

its free you know that solar rays that come down from the sun
like the rain thats falling here now
wonder if the states will get involved also and add a solar tax

maybe if they do they could do a cloud rebate tax program for
those days like the last 3 days when we get no sun
and
maybe the electric company could also give us a cloudy day
rebate program to offset the new solar power fees

see how complicated this all gets

just let the sun shine down
the supreme beings give it to us free
let me make my electricity
if i dont use it you can use it
just give me credit for it
dont charge me for doing this

seems simple right

the organicgreen doctor

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