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Walmart Considers 3 GW Solar Deployment for Its Stores
DailyTech ^ | July 31, 2009 | Jason Mick

Posted on 07/31/2009 12:08:23 PM PDT by LuxMaker

Trial deployment being started to test the waters

Interest in solar power remains high -- as do the costs associated with deploying the technology.  The field is an interesting case; costs have been progressively dropping as efficiencies have been rising.  However, there's also concerns about materials and potentially easier to harvest alternatives such as wind and nuclear energy to consider.  Ultimately, major adopters could help to tip the scale in solar power's favor by offering the kind of funding needed to create mass production on the massive scale needed to drop cost.


One such major adopter may soon commit to solar power -- Walmart.  Known for its financial savvy and cutthroat competitive nature, Walmart has started a trial deployment at a few stores.  If it deems the results acceptable, it plans to roll out solar panels on the roofs of all its stores.

That makes for a deployment of approximately 35 square miles.  That in turn would result in -- estimating conservatively 3 watts per square foot -- about 3 GW of total capacity.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailytech.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events; Technical
KEYWORDS: energy; retail; solar; walmart
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To: Andrewksu
Hydrology tends to be fairly specialized. Any AG college should have old textbooks for sale. But an average American can get by on 35 gallons of sanitized water a day, and boiling, chlorinating, or filtering the water shouldn't be a big step for someone with some smarts and a little education.

You don't want to know the details of what kind of water I cooked with in Alaska, while with the military. It was good and safe, when we finished, but I tried not to think of where it came from.

Boiling surface or sub-surface water is always an option, if you can't drill 160-400 ft and run a well.

Always pour boiled drinking water between two containers for a few minutes to re-oxygenate it and make it more palatable.

/johnny

61 posted on 07/31/2009 9:53:49 PM PDT by JRandomFreeper (God Bless us all, each, and every one.)
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To: businessprofessor
I am not sure about this project but residential solar if you are on the grid is a joke. Consider the basics of a solar system for my home in the Denver area. A 4.2 KW system costs about $33,000 with anticipated electricity cost savings of $700 per year yielding a pay back period close to 50 years. The system seems to be a poor way to generate electricity unless you are off the grid.

Seeing that the spot market price for solar modules is approx €2/$2.80 per watt, could you please elaborate what goes into the $33,000 (installation costs, profits, electricity storage etc.)? To me it seems to be a bit on the high side or a somewhat older price quote.
62 posted on 08/01/2009 3:34:43 AM PDT by wolf78 (Inflation is a form of taxation, too. Cranky Libertarian - equal opportunity offender.)
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To: Andrewksu
I have to be honest and say that I'm not big on wood as a fuel source. I have a fireplace and occasionally use it more for ambiance because the missus likes it on cold days, but not for heat. Two much environmental pollution, PAHs and the like.

I have a house built in 1985 and it isn't bad for insulation. We have NG for heat and domestic use, and the cost is reasonable for this area. Electricity for A/C but that is only used occasionally. Not too much this year especially because it's been "a year without summer" in this area. So much for global warming, I guess. Anything new I build will probably be on the water somewhere down south. SC is looking pretty good right now. We'll look at passive solar ideas if we get to that point (finances are an issue right now). I like natural lighting, so skylights and open spaces would be of interest (which is what I hear a certain ranch down in Crawford has, as opposed to a mansion in Tennessee I've heard about).

63 posted on 08/01/2009 5:42:05 AM PDT by chimera
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To: JRandomFreeper
I have a DuPont book from 1918 that shows how to use their product for everything from breaking pan soils, moving tree stumps, sealing broken substrata to curing hemorrhoids and digging drainage ditches. Their product, back then was explosives.

Explosives, eh? That sounds like a really "permanent" cure for hemorroids...:-)

64 posted on 08/01/2009 5:46:13 AM PDT by chimera
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To: JRandomFreeper

I used the paint when I floored the attic space above my garage. My AC broke a few weeks ago and the coolest room in the house was the garage. Amazing stuff. ( also, the Carrier Infinity System’s a great AC) I’ll check out pyecrete ... Thanks :)


65 posted on 08/01/2009 7:14:26 AM PDT by GOPJ (Destroy cars to stop nonexistant global warming & tax citizens $4,500 each time? Crazy.)
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To: wolf78

It was a quote provided by a residential solar contractor in the Denver area. It includes the total cost of the system. I did call a representative from the local power company who dealt with the solar installations (independent power producers). She indicated that the total cost was inline with other contracts she had seen.

However, your point is on target. These contract prices are inflated because of the massive subsidies. Without subsidies, the contract price would have been at least 1/3 lower. Who really knows the cost of the solar systems with such large amounts of subsidies involved.


66 posted on 08/01/2009 7:31:24 AM PDT by businessprofessor
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