Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumDriven by power outages and savings, towns look to microgrid
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/driven-power-outages-savings-towns-152219330.htmlALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- An upstate New York town that repeatedly found itself without power for days during a string of storms is planning a dramatic step by pulling its municipal buildings entirely off the electric grid.
The decision by Nassau to rely on solar, wind, landfill gas and battery storage by 2020 puts the town of 5,000 near Albany on the leading edge of a national campaign to develop "microgrids" designed to make communities more energy independent and the grid more resilient.
While only a few communities have become early adopters and natural disasters have been a driving force, proponents say there is also growing interest nationwide from places looking to save money by selling excess power to utilities and to help the environment.
Tipping points for Nassau came during ice storms that knocked out power in 2008 and 2009, when front-end loaders had to be used to open the heavy highway department doors so sand trucks could get on the road because a small generator couldn't handle the lift, town Supervisor David Fleming said.
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DirkGently
(12,151 posts)Last edited Sun Feb 7, 2016, 05:39 PM - Edit history (1)
I live in Florida, and cannot for the life of me figure out why we don't have entire communities creating independent solar power systems to enhance, back up or replace grid power. We have many storms and accompanying power outages, which is a disaster in the hot rainy season, and hundreds of acres of new houses with huge roof surfaces going up every day.
There are regulatory issues, especially with the utilities' new push to essentially force everyone to pay for grid power whether they use it or not, but we ought to be able to dispense with all of those on the basis of public safety. And an array of microgrids would not be as susceptible to the potential of a big terrorist hack of the national power grid all the politicians keep raising in the debates.
If we put a fraction of the blood, sweat and tears into improving our infrastructure that we do in trying to dictate the political environment in the Middle East, we'd all be cruising along on cheap or free, reliable renewable energy in a heartbeat.
LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)I believe Florida has restrictions that have made solar power use unaffordable for homeowners.
According to their website, the Solar Energies Industry Association states: "Florida, the sunshine state, ranks third in the nation for rooftop solar potential, but all the way down at 14th for cumulative solar capacity installed. Floridas solar policies lag behind many other states in the nation: it has no renewable portfolio standard and does not allow power purchase agreements, two policies that have driven investments in solar in other states.'" Link: http://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/florida
Rules vary from state to state. In Maryland, my husband and I will have solar panels installed on our roof at zero cost to us through a PPA * agreement.
*"A solar power purchase agreement (PPA) is a financial agreement where a developer arranges for the design, permitting, financing and installation of a solar energy system on a customers property at little to no cost. The developer sells the power generated to the host customer at a fixed rate that is typically lower than the local utilitys retail rate. This lower electricity price serves to offset the customers purchase of electricity from the grid while the developer receives the income from these sales of electricity as well as any tax credits and other incentives generated from the system. PPAs typically range from 10 to 25 years and the developer remains responsible for the operation and maintenance of the system for the duration of the agreement."
http://www.seia.org/research-resources/solar-power-purchase-agreements
djean111
(14,255 posts)The huge grids are vulnerable to the weather, age, and hacking and terrorism.
The thing is, the big grids enable power companies to just keep raising rates, for maintenance, and that is how they are trying to discourage solar panels, IMO.
Microgrids are going to be the new paradigm, and investors should be looking at helping with this, and not looking to smother and choke solar power.
Same problem with the internet lines, really - ALEC-type legislation sponsored by the big providers is being used to make it illegal for a municipality to build and deploy its own internet lines.