Parasitic Power Producers

American Thinker ^ | 8/19/2013 | Viv Forbes

[rktman]

The green energy twins, wind and solar, are parasitic power producers. They cannot produce continuous predictable electricity without sucking backup from their hosts -- real power plants using coal, gas, nuclear, hydro, or geothermal energy.

They start their freeloading life by attaching themselves to an electricity network built and paid for by their hosts. They seldom contribute to the capital or maintenance cost of the transmission network, and they force consumers to subsidize the feed-in price received for their unreliable output.

From day one, the green energy parasites force their hosts to support them with electricity during the frequent periods when they produce no power. At times, in cold, still weather, wind farms drain power from the network to keep the turbines from freezing.

[rktman]

Someone here in town recently wrote a letter to the editor stating that solar was the way to go and that he had redone his whole house to run on solar for about $10,000 and that people should be more accepting of the idea. Well, he also had a back up generator for when the sun don't shine. I suppose if an individual wants to do that for his/her domicile, that's great. But on a large scale, we know it just doesn't work long term. My next door neighbor (who is not there 98% of the time) has a solar array on the south side roof and appears to have the house set up to run on solar. Don't know. Only seen them a few times and never talked to them. But, the big solar array that they have makes a fine shelter for the hundreds of pigeons that roost under them. Maybe they devised a way to use pigeon poop for power as well.

[unlearner]

The best reason to consider personal solar power is the ability to go off grid and be independent. Being a prepper might mean paying more for electricity. If your neighbor can run entirely on solar for $10k, it is a steal though.

[rktman]

Agreed. I suppose retro-fitting your “current” set up is a viable option if you can scrape up the money to do it. I have a pretty big chunk of open space on the south side of the house where panels could be placed but like a lot of folks, don’t have the $$$ to do it. Don’t want to take out a loan either. But, it would be nice to not have to pay NVEnergy every month. Lucky for us we have a “smart” meter to help keep us straight. LOL!

[cripplecreek]

Regular legitimate power producers are fined or expected to pay for energy imports during downtime. Wind and solar get exemptions. In Michigan, wind and solar were even trying to force legitimate producers to pay into a fund that would pay for the downtime of wind and solar.

[rktman]

LOL! Well that makes perfect sense. How else are the eco-wackos gonna get paid? (The big cheeses that is.)

[The Great RJ]

“Green” Ethanol is no better. Ethanol is a poor fuel and blending it with gasoline produces a considerable drop in miles per gallon. The production of ethanol is also energy intensive and uses prodigious amounts of water. Corn based ethanol has significantly raised food costs as 40% of the corn crop is turned into ethanol rather than used for food production. Ethanol is government subsidized from planting the corn to pumping it into your gas tank and could not exist without these subsidies.

[Wurlitzer]

Solar is currently only viable if excess energy is stored as heat.

One of the few installations I have seen which actually paid for themselves were down in PR where my SIL has a 2nd home and they have a solar hot water heater.

Even with guests and the occasional cloudy day, there is ample hot water reserve.

Storing the excess as electricity is another matter though and so far a nice toy.

[cripplecreek]

I don’t have any issues with people using wind and solar privately, its when you get into large scale stuff that government gets involved to support it.

I’ve got a bunch of little solar powered gadgets but that’s all that will ever work on a limited basis here in Michigan. In fact I wouldn’t mind trying a small vertical bladed windmill just to see how it works. They appear to work in a wider range of windspeeds which makes them more efficient but there are still days with no wind or too much.

The only “green” no waste energy is hydroelectric. If it weren’t for the laws and lack of money, I would love to retrofit the dam at the end of my lake with a hydro generator.

[krogers58]

Solar is currently only viable if excess energy is stored as heat.

One of the few installations I have seen which actually paid for themselves were down in PR where my SIL has a 2nd home and they have a solar hot water heater.

Even with guests and the occasional cloudy day, there is ample hot water reserve.

I also created my own solar hot water system using glassed in boxes with copper tubing. I got the copper years ago, when it wasn't as pricey as it is now. I used a 2500 gallon septic tank(unused) which I insulated with spray on insulation as a heat reservoir. I think the whole system cost me about 2 - 3k. I get year round hot water and heat from it. I live in NH, in the white mountains, so saying I get all my heat from it, is saying something significant. My house has radiant hot water heating. The water pump is powered by a couple of solar panels and some Marine deep cycle batteries, from Walmart. I'd estimate it saves me nearly 1500 per year, but as costs continue to climb, and my only costs are batteries every few years and a pump every 10. It has been in continuous operation for 18 years. The septic tank reservoir maintains a nearly consistent 135 degree temperature, though I could crank it higher by adding panels, it has proven to be just about right. My hot water temperature is around 130 degrees and my radiant floor closed loop is around 105 degrees.

The heating cycle is turned on when the sun is shining, and only pumps water to the panels if the water can gain something. I have temperature sensors at the beginning and end of the loop, and if the water is equal or gaining temperature, I continue the circulation, if not, it shuts off. It has a timer to shut it down at night, which I occasionally have to adjust for seasons. When it snows, I run the warm water through the system to melt the snow off, using a manual override on the pumping system.

[Little Ray]

You CAN build a wind/solar off the grid house.

http://earthship.com/

It isn’t cheap, the construction is pretty exotic, and you STILL need natural gas to run the oven, stove, and ‘fridge and as a backup. Or maybe not: “Washing machines, computers, kitchen appliances, print machines, vacuums, etc. can be used normally. No electricity is required for heating & cooling.” http://earthship.com/Systems/electricity?highlight=WyJ3YXNoaW5nIiwibWFjaGluZXMiLCJjb21wdXRlcnMiLCJ3YXNoaW5nIG1hY2hpbmVzIiwid2FzaGluZyBtYWNoaW5lcyBjb21wdXRlcnMiLCJtYWNoaW5lcyBjb21wdXRlcnMiXQ==

It is still a good idea to a propane tank...

It also has a ton of batteries to store power which will eventually have to be swapped out.

But they ARE cool...

[rktman]

I know I could except for one little problem. Money, money, money. LOL!

[Little Ray]

That looks like THREE problems to me... Same ones I have!

[jonno]

I’d love to see your system.

Have me over for dinner?
8^)