Ann Arbor approves deal with DTE Energy to construct largest solar array in Michigan

Mlive.com ^ | February 03, 2015 | Ryan Stanton

[cripplecreek]

The words "solar capitol of Michigan" have broken my sense of reason.

Leave it to Ann Arbor to get excited about the one thing even less effective than wind power.

[cripplecreek]

The very last line in the story is the money quote.

He confirmed that solar panels that DTE installed on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor are producing energy at 12 to 14 percent of their listed capacity.



Michigan legislative action thread

[MeshugeMikey]

now theres a BARGAIN!

[FreedomGuru]

Will be wonderful during those 12 days of continuous cloudy weather in Michigan or fry the birds in summer.

[DBrow]

Cloud cover average:

“On July 19, the clearest day of the year, the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 76% of the time, and overcast or mostly cloudy 23% of the time.

On December 15, the cloudiest day of the year, the sky is overcast, mostly cloudy, or partly cloudy 70% of the time, and clear or mostly clear 29% of the time. “

https://weatherspark.com/averages/29652/Ann-Arbor-Michigan-United-States

[left that other site]

Col. Sanders approves!

[cripplecreek]

Yesterday would have been a nice sunny day for shoveling the snow off of the panels.

[headstamp 2]

Put them right on the runways.

[headstamp 2]

That’s what I said to a homeowner/customer the other day when he told me he was getting “free” solar panels for his house.

I asked him if they came with an illegal alien to shovel them off during the winter.

[dila813]

Like the monorail in the Simpsons

[cripplecreek]

The rarefied air of Ann Arbor is surprisingly dense and common sense doesn’t easily penetrate it.

[SunkenCiv]

12 to 14 percent, eh? I guess they’d never heard of A) overcast skies or B) night.

[stayathomemom]

Isn't Michigan the cloudiest state in the lower 48?
Those arrays of solar panels on North campus are real pretty! /sarc

[cripplecreek]

I’ve got a couple of potted palms. I guess that makes me the palm tree capitol of Michigan.

[Don Corleone]

Leave it to Ann Arbor to get excited about the one thing even less effective than wind power.

And in a state that almost always has cloud cover of some sort due to its position between the Great Lakes. This is as stupid as the California high speed rail.

[norwaypinesavage]

The "solar capitol of Michigan" is about the same as the "ski team of Jamaica", and will be about as successful. I have lived my whole career within 30 miles of Ann Arbor, and can assure you that the sun is simply absent from the end of October to the end of March, and often a lot longer than that. I'll bet the panels won't even be producing enough energy to keep their batteries from freezing during that time.

Don't anyone bother to object that they won't be employing batteries. Solar power without storage to cover the time the dark time is simply subsidized propaganda.

[Seruzawa]

Eh. We have solar panels for the 12volt system at our cabin in the mountains of central Utah. They are pretty good for some uses and in more sunny climes can be cost effective. Just not in Michigan.

[taildragger]

Many stories and observations as to the airport, much more later when I have the time...

[Sioux-san]

How do we get them to stop wasting their/our money?

[cyclotic]

I live in Maryland. So schmo came to our door the other day trying to hawk this stuff.

When I got home, I printed out a graph that rated Maryland as a 4 on a scale of 1-10 for kilowatt hours of solar effectiveness. I would assume Michigan (where I used to live to be a 2-3.

He never came back so she didn’t get the chance to ask him to explain it to her.