Comments on: My two cents about solar panels on the White House

By: Bookworm Room » Some random things while I get my act together

Bookworm Room » Some random things while I get my act together — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:53:15 +0000

[...] may recall my rant about solar panels a little while ago. Things are better now, because we’ve just entered the half of the year where most hours [...]

By: David Foster

David Foster — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 02:21:10 +0000

Zabrina…”Why should it have to be restructured that way (with peak/non-peak restrictions), instead of just reducing your electricity costs based on your total contribution of solar power?” Remember, the power company has the same problem on a macro scale that Book has on a micro scale. Power consumption is very peak-y, because people’s activities tend to follow consistent patterns. If they make the power themselves, they have to install enough equipment to handle the peaks…and the interest costs go on accumulating when it’s *not* a peak time. If they buy the power from another provider, the price charged is *very* dependent on time of day.

The problem is that wind and solar are intermittent sources, and the times they choose to start generating power are not necessarily those when the power is wanted. There are few practical ways to store large amounts of power: the best way, pumped storage, takes a lot of acreage and is anathema to environmentalists.

Meanwhile, more setbacks for nuclear power in the US:
http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/16393.html

By: Gringo

Gringo — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 21:06:49 +0000

Charles:
Then the real irony of the whole complex was that, being an exclusive gated community, the aunt pointed out that after they tried to hang up a clothes line the community board sent them a letter stating that according to the community’s by-laws clotheslines were not allowed as they were considered “unsightly.”So, the oldest, most effective use of solar and wind power was “outlawed”!

Doesn’t surprise me at all. My sibilings have lived in HOAs that forbade laundry being hung outside to dry. The difference is that those HOA’s don’t claim to be “green.” I can visualize my mother hanging out laundry on a clear winter day with snow on the ground. By contrast: in TX, when a sheet can dry in 20 minutes on a 100 degree summer day, there is a climatic advantage for drying laundry outside. I find it easier to dry the laundry in a spare room, which makes the transference from drying to closet a lot faster. Just dry shirts right on hangers.

Did your aunt point out to the board the contradiction between claiming to be a “green” community and prohibiting hanging out laundry?

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:17:46 +0000

Not in my Backyard=Liberals, Democrats, progressives, aka enemies of humanity.

Book, can’t you work out some LEGAL contract thingies with your law degree and do something about your contract or what not? What’s the point of studying the law if you can’t make it work for ya, right.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:23:11 +0000

NIMBY

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:42:56 +0000

Somewhat related – several years ago I visited a friend’s aunt and uncle who had just moved into a gated community. The community was advertised as being a ”green community.” The proud new owners showed us everything about the house and how it “helped the environment.” Such details as window shades that reflected the light back out in the summer; even the quilted pattern in the shades was done in such a fashion as to not have needle holes (it was done with glue) so that they were “air-tight.” etc. etc. etc.

Then the real irony of the whole complex was that, being an exclusive gated community, the aunt pointed out that after they tried to hang up a clothes line the community board sent them a letter stating that according to the community’s by-laws clotheslines were not allowed as they were considered “unsightly.”

So, the oldest, most effective use of solar and wind power was “outlawed”!

By: zabrina

zabrina — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:29:24 +0000

Not criticizing you, Book, but the original deal does seem like an unfortunate bargain now that you know what’s involved. Why should it have to be restructured that way (with peak/non-peak restrictions), instead of just reducing your electricity costs based on your total contribution of solar power? What strikes me most about this story is the truism that when civilizations devolve, physical drudgery takes over the time once available for creativity and innovation, and it’s usually the women who are first and last to get stuck with the drudgery. Thanks for pointing out the realities involved in these schemes. If actual free-market capitalism were involved, a mutually-agreeable solution would occur that actually profits all parties. Like, the electric company would pay YOU to host the solar panels, etc. At least your sadder but wiser, and thanks for the warning.

By: Gringo

Gringo — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 05:17:30 +0000

What about hanging out clothes to dry, which could be done most of the year in the Bay Area? I use a clothes dryer once every two years, but I am not washing for four people.
Sounds like a big hassle.
Solar electricity is not cost effective. Solar heating- depends where you are.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:17:45 +0000

Of course, historically crossbows and other weapons were explicitly illegal for peasants to own. Precisely because a cheap crossbow can kill a noble as easily as a peasant. Given the nobility were not anywhere near as numerous as the often dying peasants, that’s not a mark of success for Rule by Tyranny.

In this day age, Obama may actually live to see what happens when a technocracy strips the rights of a people away, without at the same time Completely Disarming them. Britain made the same mistake attempting to rule from overseas, even though much of the Colonial local matters were settled by Americans, including their arms manufactures.

By: Ymarsakar

Ymarsakar — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:15:33 +0000

What it ultimately means is that once the aristocrats strip the peasants of their property, claiming it all for the nobility or the Crown, then the peasants can claim the lives of the aristocracy. Because if they can take from others using force as a justification, then the same is true of them, their mansions, their bank accounts, and their towers of money sitting around not doing a Damn Thing to help humanity.