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Why solar is cheap even at twice the price
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hab...@anony.net
Apr 28, 2013, 3:41:51 PM4/28/13
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What if we dig a lagoon say a km square in the shallow sea
with concrete walls say 30 meters , 10 above the sea level and line it
at the bottom with a black substance so it retains heat.
The during the hot day the sun will shower 1000 MW of energy
on to it , and we can use surplus offshore wind power to pump water
out of this lagoon and then when we need it turbines at the bottom
would let in sea water and deliver electricity? Even a net return of
100MW would be huge and could power a small city for each sq km
excerpt
http://www.energyboom.com/solar/energy%E2%80%99s-presence-not-price-changes-lives
The biggest problem with a focus on the price per kilowatt hour is the
failure to prioritize coverage, and speed. Today, it is clear that
off grid clean energy is cheaper than subsidized diesel and kerosene
even if it may not be as cheap as the subsidized grid electricity
prices in India, Malawi, Haiti and other nations. But it is
unconscionable for those without energy to be forced to continue to
spend huge portions of their monthly income on dirty kerosene and
diesel instead of cheaper and cleaner solar or biomass because we want
them to wait for the grid to arrive; A grid that hasn’t come for
decades, and won’t come for decades more.
How many babies need to be borne in the dark? How many women need to
die unnecessarily of snake-bite while picking vegetables in the dark,
or get lung cancer from breathing kerosene fumes? How many children
should lose their schooling opportunity to darkness because SOMEDAY
the grid will arrive, and when it does, its electrons – but not the
total cost of the connection -- will be cheaper than those you could
pluck off a mini-grid next month? The conversation about price per
kilowatt hour sounds very much like a conversation among folks who
already have electricity, not one you would have with people who lack
it and are going without food to pay for kerosene.
The second problem is the nature of subsidies meant to reduce prices
for the poor. Let's be clear. Government subsidies to the power
sector, (or socialism) can provide universal, or well nigh universal,
electrification. Vladimir Lenin proved this. So did FDR. Vietnam is
the most recent success story. But many countries with enormous
un-electrified populations have shown that subsidies alone cannot,
ever, provide universal access to electricity in the absence of a
driving national development mandate for universal service. Where
pictures can easily be snapped of electric wires soaring over kerosene
dependent homes you can be fairly certain that such a driving national
mandate is lacking.
Happily enough a new bottom-up approach is emerging even though it has
a long way to go. Bangladesh is now installing 30-40,000 solar home
systems every month. Dlight distributed their 2,000,000th solar
lantern this month. OMC is busy completing its 10th solar mini grid
because the economics of centralized grid extension simply don’t work.
The poor no longer need to wait decades for power. Instead they wait
days or weeks for small scale localized systems to be installed by
local companies employing local installers whose money is recycled in
local purchases. The cascading development impacts of
decentralization.
But for this approach to scale we need entrepreneurship, not
bureaucracy. These approaches are working not because subsidies made
them affordable. They were delivered because the alternative, no power
or dirty kerosene, was too costly to bear. Every day a village waits
for the grid to inch its way closer this cost is paid and its one
those who obsess over the kwh price of energy the poor pay fail to
with concrete walls say 30 meters , 10 above the sea level and line it
at the bottom with a black substance so it retains heat.
The during the hot day the sun will shower 1000 MW of energy
on to it , and we can use surplus offshore wind power to pump water
out of this lagoon and then when we need it turbines at the bottom
would let in sea water and deliver electricity? Even a net return of
100MW would be huge and could power a small city for each sq km
excerpt
http://www.energyboom.com/solar/energy%E2%80%99s-presence-not-price-changes-lives
The biggest problem with a focus on the price per kilowatt hour is the
failure to prioritize coverage, and speed. Today, it is clear that
off grid clean energy is cheaper than subsidized diesel and kerosene
even if it may not be as cheap as the subsidized grid electricity
prices in India, Malawi, Haiti and other nations. But it is
unconscionable for those without energy to be forced to continue to
spend huge portions of their monthly income on dirty kerosene and
diesel instead of cheaper and cleaner solar or biomass because we want
them to wait for the grid to arrive; A grid that hasn’t come for
decades, and won’t come for decades more.
How many babies need to be borne in the dark? How many women need to
die unnecessarily of snake-bite while picking vegetables in the dark,
or get lung cancer from breathing kerosene fumes? How many children
should lose their schooling opportunity to darkness because SOMEDAY
the grid will arrive, and when it does, its electrons – but not the
total cost of the connection -- will be cheaper than those you could
pluck off a mini-grid next month? The conversation about price per
kilowatt hour sounds very much like a conversation among folks who
already have electricity, not one you would have with people who lack
it and are going without food to pay for kerosene.
The second problem is the nature of subsidies meant to reduce prices
for the poor. Let's be clear. Government subsidies to the power
sector, (or socialism) can provide universal, or well nigh universal,
electrification. Vladimir Lenin proved this. So did FDR. Vietnam is
the most recent success story. But many countries with enormous
un-electrified populations have shown that subsidies alone cannot,
ever, provide universal access to electricity in the absence of a
driving national development mandate for universal service. Where
pictures can easily be snapped of electric wires soaring over kerosene
dependent homes you can be fairly certain that such a driving national
mandate is lacking.
Happily enough a new bottom-up approach is emerging even though it has
a long way to go. Bangladesh is now installing 30-40,000 solar home
systems every month. Dlight distributed their 2,000,000th solar
lantern this month. OMC is busy completing its 10th solar mini grid
because the economics of centralized grid extension simply don’t work.
The poor no longer need to wait decades for power. Instead they wait
days or weeks for small scale localized systems to be installed by
local companies employing local installers whose money is recycled in
local purchases. The cascading development impacts of
decentralization.
But for this approach to scale we need entrepreneurship, not
bureaucracy. These approaches are working not because subsidies made
them affordable. They were delivered because the alternative, no power
or dirty kerosene, was too costly to bear. Every day a village waits
for the grid to inch its way closer this cost is paid and its one
those who obsess over the kwh price of energy the poor pay fail to
hab...@anony.net
Apr 28, 2013, 4:49:49 PM4/28/13
to
excerpt cleantechnica.com
SWITCH Unveils 3 New LED Products That Could Shake Up The Lighting
World
April 27, 2013Cynthia Shahan
5
An illuminating press release from SWITCH® Lighting has announced that
its first-of-a-kind SWITCH3-Way and SWITCH100 are ready to ship.
Shipping is available starting next week, the beginning of May. These
lights are so cool – they are like small glass sculptures. However,
they are quite utilitarian and low-energy, modern sources of beauty
and light without strain on our environment. As such, the 100-watt
(SWITCH100) and 3-way equivalents (SWITCH3-Way) come from an
award-winning product line. These true …
SWITCH Unveils 3 New LED Products That Could Shake Up The Lighting
World
April 27, 2013Cynthia Shahan
5
An illuminating press release from SWITCH® Lighting has announced that
its first-of-a-kind SWITCH3-Way and SWITCH100 are ready to ship.
Shipping is available starting next week, the beginning of May. These
lights are so cool – they are like small glass sculptures. However,
they are quite utilitarian and low-energy, modern sources of beauty
and light without strain on our environment. As such, the 100-watt
(SWITCH100) and 3-way equivalents (SWITCH3-Way) come from an
award-winning product line. These true …
hab...@anony.net
Apr 28, 2013, 4:51:29 PM4/28/13
to
cleantechinca.com
Ohio Manufacturers Fight To Keep Energy Efficiency Standards
April 26, 2013Guest Contributor
1
This article originally appeared on Think Progress. By Aviva Shen Ohio
is one of many states trying to scale back energy efficiency standards
set for utility providers � even though these standards have lowered
costs and reduced energy consumption by customers, according to the
Ohio Manufacturers� Association. OMA, the state�s largest
manufacturing trade group, is fighting against Republican-led efforts
to weaken the laws that require utilities providers help customers use
less electricity. The laws set a deadline of 2025 for electric
utilities to
Ohio Manufacturers Fight To Keep Energy Efficiency Standards
April 26, 2013Guest Contributor
1
This article originally appeared on Think Progress. By Aviva Shen Ohio
is one of many states trying to scale back energy efficiency standards
set for utility providers � even though these standards have lowered
costs and reduced energy consumption by customers, according to the
Ohio Manufacturers� Association. OMA, the state�s largest
manufacturing trade group, is fighting against Republican-led efforts
to weaken the laws that require utilities providers help customers use
less electricity. The laws set a deadline of 2025 for electric
utilities to
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