Posted on 02/12/2019 1:15:19 PM PST by Liberty7732
The Democrats’ Green New Socialism proposes blanketing the U.S. with solar panels and wind turbines so as to replace all reliable forms of power generation with unreliable, intermittent sources. Everyone knows that solar panels don’t produce electricity at night, but there is another problem: they don’t produce electricity when it snows, either.
A friend took this photo and wrote:
I was up in Ramsey [Minnesota] picking up my camper, and next door is this fantastic $30,000,000 brand-new solar installation.
Doesn’t look like they’re making much electricity today, but it sure is going to make for good union jobs clearing the snow off these things.
(Excerpt) Read more at powerlineblog.com ...
We have a tiny solar “farm” in Fairbanks. That thing has produced nearly nothing since summer. What a flipping waste.
The heating from other sources would use more energy than the panels will produce under those conditions.
My solar panel salesman told me that it didn’t matter if snow got on my roof panels. The sunlight would go right through the snow and still charge my panels all the same.
“ I could always use a generator and the battery but the battery has a finite life and it is expensive. Not using it will allow it to last virtually forever as long as I care for it.”
I seem to have hit a ceiling of about 12 years with well-cared-for and lightly used SLA batteries. That’s pretty good, though. This is with continuous desulfating.
bfl
The solar insolation does transit the snow cover more than one might expect but at my latitude is too weak this time of year to be very useful anyway.
But it’s very expecsive for a grid to have a large amount of solar power, say 30% or more:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2017/02/07/wind-and-solar-power-seem-cheap-now-but-will-the-cost-go-up-as-we-use-more-of-it/#4f6ce531cb08
California is suffering from oversupply now.
Tomorrow is another day of course. And many grids are nowhere near the limit.
I’m sorry your only getting 12 years from your flooded Lead battery. With proper care, make that very careful care you should be able to get 10 years using them to 50% every day and 7 years not being so careful.
I will give a few pointers from what I have learned over the last several years.
Desulfateing is definitely the the most important part. You can’t care for them by just looking at the voltage and the plate condition. You have to depend on the Specific Gravity. A fully charged battery should be at around 1.280 and I prefer 1.300+. A lot of people are happy with 1.26. The specific gravity will tell you how much sulfate is on your plates. If you consistently run below 1.26 I would say it was time for a good equalization charge. I hate equalization but you have to do it even if you aren’t discharging the stupid things. I have a 48V system so I equalize at at least 61 volts and really stir them up.
When I first started I didn’t loosen the caps enough and blew up a couple battery cells, at first I assumed I got bad cells until a cap popped up against the battery box lid.
I’m using tow truck batteries that had been purchased and repossessed after a few months for nonpayment. A few of the cells were really pretty pitiful but a couple good equalizing charges brought them right up into spec. I don’t have any red caps in my 72 cells.
Something else that really helps battery life is temperature. My inverter has thermocouples on the battery to report temperature but since my battery is in the basement it never gets hot or cold, both extremes are hard on the battery. I don’t think I have ever seen it above about 24 or so degrees C. You might make it jump a few degrees during equalization but it will come right back down when you get done.
Since my system is a battery backup all my solar runs through the battery prior to the inverter so that the battery is always topped off. My 6 hour after charge voltage runs about 53.5 volts. Even during the hot summer running A/C during sunshine the voltage stays pretty high.
Something else I learned is that if you are grid tied you need do do inverter/Grid charging. You simply can’t depend on the battery controller to do the job from the PV’s, especially for an equalizing charge. I have two Outback 8048’s, they are a little loud but they are good. I have two PT 100’s, they are great but you need the inverter charging to get the most from your battery. They will produce double their rating for a short time if necessary.
Since we store stuff in the basement we keep a dehumidifier down there running all the time, that provides more than enough distilled water for the battery. The batteries are Enersys Desert Hogs. The hogs are nice because they have an extra tall case with extra space above the plates so that you can go two or three months without even checking the water level but water level is about an important factor in battery life as you can get. If you constantly run your water low your battery chemistry will be off, it will look good even though you have sulfates building up on the plates. Many people don’t know when to do an equalizing charge, well if you add a lot of water then it is a good time to equalize to mix up the chemistry.
I’m sorry your only getting 12 years from your flooded Lead battery. With proper care, make that very careful care you should be able to get 10 years using them to 50% every day and 7 years not being so careful.
I will give a few pointers from what I have learned over the last several years.
Desulfateing is definitely the the most important part. You can’t care for them by just looking at the voltage and the plate condition. You have to depend on the Specific Gravity. A fully charged battery should be at around 1.280 and I prefer 1.300+. A lot of people are happy with 1.26. The specific gravity will tell you how much sulfate is on your plates. If you consistently run below 1.26 I would say it was time for a good equalization charge. I hate equalization but you have to do it even if you aren’t discharging the stupid things. I have a 48V system so I equalize at at least 61 volts and really stir them up.
When I first started I didn’t loosen the caps enough and blew up a couple battery cells, at first I assumed I got bad cells until a cap popped up against the battery box lid.
I’m using tow truck batteries that had been purchased and repossessed after a few months for nonpayment. A few of the cells were really pretty pitiful but a couple good equalizing charges brought them right up into spec. I don’t have any red caps in my 72 cells.
Something else that really helps battery life is temperature. My inverter has thermocouples on the battery to report temperature but since my battery is in the basement it never gets hot or cold, both extremes are hard on the battery. I don’t think I have ever seen it above about 24 or so degrees C. You might make it jump a few degrees during equalization but it will come right back down when you get done.
Since my system is a battery backup all my solar runs through the battery prior to the inverter so that the battery is always topped off. My 6 hour after charge voltage runs about 53.5 volts. Even during the hot summer running A/C during sunshine the voltage stays pretty high.
Something else I learned is that if you are grid tied you need do do inverter/Grid charging. You simply can’t depend on the battery controller to do the job from the PV’s, especially for an equalizing charge. I have two Outback 8048’s, they are a little loud but they are good. I have two PT 100’s, they are great but you need the inverter charging to get the most from your battery. They will produce double their rating for a short time if necessary.
Since we store stuff in the basement we keep a dehumidifier down there running all the time, that provides more than enough distilled water for the battery. The batteries are Enersys Desert Hogs. The hogs are nice because they have an extra tall case with extra space above the plates so that you can go two or three months without even checking the water level but water level is about an important factor in battery life as you can get. If you constantly run your water low your battery chemistry will be off, it will look good even though you have sulfates building up on the plates. Many people don’t know when to do an equalizing charge, well if you add a lot of water then it is a good time to equalize to mix up the chemistry.
“Solar works fine in places where there is a lot of snow and ice because because snow and ice create a lot of reflected sunlight which increases the solar panel output”
uh, yeah. right ... sure it does ...
“My solar panel salesman told me that it didn’t matter if snow got on my roof panels. The sunlight would go right through the snow and still charge my panels all the same.”
you know that’s true because being inside an igloo is like being inside a totally transparent house ...
This is not new stuff. There is extensive solar in Europe that is at a higher latitude than Minnesota.
If events in Minnesota bother you, you are in for a rough ride because your home state of Colorado is way out ahead of Minnesota in the transition away from fossil fuel.
What “power” heats them...burning unicorn poop?
If it weren’t for the rest of being forced one way or another to subsidize solar idiocy, it would fail. What percent of energy is produced by solar? Less that 1%? What a pathetic fraud and joke.
In layman's terms, it's called "night."
Use of renewable energy should be socially encouraged, just as homes/buildings follow social norms (good or bad), for its own good (which may vary by circumstance) such as power independence and reduced demand on limited resources and reduced/relocated pollution. Yes, it’s OK to be a conservative taking an interest in conservation & self-sufficiency. As the technology advances, objections (cost, manufacturing pollution, resources used) are addressed & mitigated. I keep solar panels for emergency & travel use, and augment home power from a solar provider to explore & encourage its use.
Don’t confuse that with _compelling_ use, making homes even more expensive by decree and prioritizing compliance over practicality.
I do see too many on the Right holding an imperative of “not Left, must attack any & all Leftist positions on anything”, rather than focusing on what is right & why (even if outcome overlaps with Leftist goals). We may joke about driving Ford Earth****ers just to pwn the Left, but actually doing so (and/or berating Conservatives who buy Teslas as “Leftists” just because it’s a nice & clean car) is not who we should want to be. (If you _want_ to be a crotchety argumentative prick, go ahead - just keep your distance please.)
If it doesn’t work for you, fine. Not all of us live in cloudy/snowy/dark areas. Nobody here wants to compel you to use it if it doesn’t make sense for you; here near sunny Atlanta, a solar-charged EV for commuting actually does make conservative sense.
For socialists every 'good deed' is only a horse to ride to power. You're right they don't believe in any of the lies they tell...
“because your home state of Colorado is way out ahead of Minnesota in the transition away from fossil fuel. “
well they SAY they are but it’s not gonna happen ...
“Their sole goal is the power to bully ..”
Control, control and more control. That is the goal of the liberal commies. Regulate this and that/ regulate all.
It is not caring for anyone or anything, including our planet, it is control.
The use of bully tactics is their method of control.
AND, they look forward to colonizing the Moon or Mars.
Why? Extend that control to include SPACE.
Freedom is a responsibility to behave well so control is not needed. Self control is freedom, any other type is not.
Wow, you have a lot of money!
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