Solar ... In the news

Martyn1981

Looks like key tipping points are being hit in the US as installed PV numbers are really starting to take off, and predictions that PV will be as cheap as gas!:

Big-Box Retailers Turn To Solar, How Can Electric Utilities Adapt?

http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Big_Box_Retailers_Turn_To_Solar_How_Can_Electric_Utilities_Adapt_999.html

The electric utility industry faces the risk of declining revenues as more customers install solar panels on their homes and businesses. Solar power currently supplies 2% of the country's electricity needs, and is projected to grow to 16% by 2020. In 2013, solar panel prices for commercial installations fell 15.6%, from $4.64/watt to $3.92/watt.


Western US renewables could become cost competitive by 2025

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/western-us-renewables-could-become-cost-competitive-by-2025_100012512/#axzz2dCqV9CBC

The NREL -- the U.S. Department of Energy's primary laboratory for renewable energy research -- predicts that solar power generation in western U.S. will be cost-competitive by 2025.

Mart.

The_Green_Hornet

An idyll blighted by 18,000 solar panels...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2403265/An-idyll-blighted-18-000-solar-panels-Seen-sky-reality-alternative-energy.html

...but only if you have an aerial view.

EricMears

.
I doubt if Google Earth will have been updated to show that field yet but when it eventually does, try looking at the area then. One thirty acre field containing nothing over ten feet tall will look pretty insignificant alongside the couple of square miles of oil refinery starting half a mile up the road !

It is of course just on the edge of the New Forest - but there are thousands of acres of rather prettier countryside nearby still completely unspoilt for any passing helicopters to snap.

zeupater

EricMears wrote: »

.
I doubt if Google Earth will have been updated to show that field yet but when it eventually does, try looking at the area then. One thirty acre field containing nothing over ten feet tall will look pretty insignificant alongside the couple of square miles of oil refinery starting half a mile up the road !

It is of course just on the edge of the New Forest - but there are thousands of acres of rather prettier countryside nearby still completely unspoilt for any passing helicopters to snap.

Hi

Completely agree ... a clear example of the selective direction of photography being used as a propaganda tool.

Here's a picture of the same viewpoint from a slightly different angle ..... ( http://www.lymington.org/newforest/77.html ) .... note that the array is just off picture (left) - you can use the stack as a reference point .... idyllic view ?, well maybe not quite as much as described ....

Z

mac2008

The_Green_Hornet wrote: »

An idyll blighted by 18,000 solar panels...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2403265/An-idyll-blighted-18-000-solar-panels-Seen-sky-reality-alternative-energy.html

...but only if you have an aerial view.

I know it is the Daily mail, but even by their standards its a poor article - almost incoherent in places.

Interestingly, comments seem to be in favour of the installation from a quick count...

EricMears

zeupater wrote: »

Here's a picture of the same viewpoint from a slightly different angle ..... ( http://www.lymington.org/newforest/77.html ) .... note that the array is just off picture (left) - you can use the stack as a reference point .... idyllic view ?, well maybe not quite as much as described ....

Z

Golly, has the refinery really got to 5 sq miles ? I've always thought of it as huge but was expecting to be told I'd exaggerated when I described it as a couple of sq miles.

One of my grandfathers was part of the original construction team in the 1920s when the 'AGWI' (as it was then known - but please don't ask what that stands for !) was started.

Martyn1981

mac2008 wrote: »

I know it is the Daily mail, but even by their standards its a poor article - almost incoherent in places.

Interestingly, comments seem to be in favour of the installation from a quick count...

Boy oh boy them DM chappies are rather naughty! Thanks guys for pointing out the 'pretty' refinery for context, I'm still chuckling away.

Told Wifey to have a look at the pics for a laugh, and she said she'd already read the DM article (didn't know about the refinery) but didn't mention it to me, as she'd googled the Cadland Estate and assumed this was very old news!!!!!

Turns out this was built a year ago:

http://www.jpcs.co.uk/about-us/case-studies/case-study-5mwp-ground-mounted-solar-pv-farm-at-cadland-estate-the-biggest-solar-farm-in-the-uk/

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/9713348.Huge_solar_farm_for_Hampshire/

I can only guess that it's getting harder and harder to attack PV, when everything is working so well, and the public have accepted it, so the DM had to resort to helicopters and chopped photos.

Even the Torygraph appears to have come over to the 'Light Side' with this extremely positive, and interesting article (the title is very misleading):

Solar power to trump shale, helped by US military

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/10242882/Solar-power-to-trump-shale-helped-by-US-military.html

Too many interesting paragraphs to highlight, but this one is particularly interesting

Whatever you think about that episode, it is now behind us. Solar technology is advancing on every front with the rush of history.

Time perhaps for the naysayers and trolls to give up?

Mart.

Estwing

Bring on viable battery storage I say, that should tip the balance nicely

rogerblack

Estwing wrote: »

Bring on viable battery storage I say, that should tip the balance nicely

Viable battery storage will be a mixed blessing.
Economy 7 will go away quite promptly after it becomes economic on a grid scale.
Why on earth would they want to sell power at 6p/kWh when they can store it and get 15.
I suspect stored electrical heat is used disproportionately by the less well off.

Martyn1981

Annual demand for solar power in UK passes 1GW milestone

http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/news/annual_demand_for_solar_power_in_uk_passes_1gw_milestone

The UK solar market’s annual demand has hit the GW-level for the first time, according to research data published by NPD Solarbuzz.

Figures published by NPD Solarbuzz show that demand for solar PV during the first quarter of 2013 stood at 520MW, dropping to 282MW for the second quarter. When added to figures of installed capacity in July and August, the total exceeds the 1GW mark.

The cumulative total of solar PV installed in the UK to date stands at over 2.7GW, with 50% residential, 22% commercial rooftops and the remaining 28% from ground-mounted PV.

Mart.