Comments on: It’s not easy being greener…

By: walt

walt — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:34:27 +0000

Jessamyn: For you, it’s worse in a couple of respects, I suspect–you’re farther north, so won’t generate as much energy for a given set of panels (and, just at a guess, you don’t get nearly as many clear days as we do). And, to be sure, if your utility uses tiered pricing, you’re almost certainly never outside the cheapest tier.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:45:38 +0000

This has been my experience with looking at solar for my life in Vermont. I use so little energy — 120kWH a month — that I should probably just purchase a bicycle with a generator on it and type as I pedal. Thanks for this, it was interesting.

By: Russ Finley

Russ Finley — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:29:02 +0000

I agree with your decision to put them where they will be more efficient, I was just trying to make the point about the importance of recognizing status seeking urges and how the instinct might be channeled into more productive directions.
I am also semi-retired with my 15 minutes of fame behind me. And I would agree that our status seeking urges temper as we age, as do our sexual urges. Our brains finally start to consistently win out over our penises.
Of course you don’t seek status, nobody I have ever talked to does.
You consume your free time writing articles about your energy use, comb your hair, wash your car, and maintain your lawn because …
What percentage of our waking lifetimes has been spent putting food in our bellies, and staying warm and dry? All the rest was spent seeking opioid releases via subconscious status seeking. Jobs are primarily to pay off debts on bigger than needed for survival housing and fancier than needed for travel, cars, clothes, and any other way we can think of to enhance our status. That behavior, is consuming the planet.
In our hunter gatherer history, high status offspring have historically been more successful at propagating genes into the future, which is why status seeking has been selected for in all social primates.
All healthy, normal people status seek.

By: walt crawford

walt crawford — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:08:45 +0000

I don’t agree that, at least for some of us, “most of our waking hours are spent competing for status”–particularly not those of us who are semi-retired and whose 15 minutes of fame are long behind us.
If we had chosen to put the panels on a more visible section of the roof, where they would perform less efficiently, we would be seeking status in preference to effectiveness. We thought (and think) that was silly and counterproductive.
I’ve certainly met people who admit to seeking status. And I certainly admit to having done it at times in the past–and at times now. But it’s not my overriding concern, and matters less now than it did, say, 20 years ago.

By: Russ Finley

Russ Finley — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 21:58:25 +0000

Nice article. My one quibble is making light of the fact that your panels are not visible. We can’t find solutions if we continue to self-deceive ourselves.
We are social primates. All social primates compete for higher positions in status hierarchies. Status does not exist unless it can be displayed. High status causes others to emulate you.
I know you think you don’t compete for status, but you do, in fact most of our waking hours are spent competing for status, we just are not consciously aware of it, or would rather not see ourselves in that light. I have yet to meet anyone who admits to seeking status. Think about it.
By making environmental benignity a status symbol, humanity just might have a chance.

By: walt crawford

walt crawford — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:34:26 +0000

Yes and no.
Yes, once you have an inverter attached to the utility, you get a “two-way meter”–it can spin either way, decreasing counts if you’re generating more than you’re using.
And if you use time-of-use pricing, PG&E “buys” at time of use, which means you’re getting a VERY good rate for excess midafternoon power. (But you’re also charged for power you use at time-of-use rates.)
But…PG&E is only obliged to buy up to the amount you owe over the course of a year, not including the $7 monthly meter fee. In other words, PG&E will never write you a check for excess electricity–and it won’t roll over from one year to the next. If you’ve generated more than you use, over the course of a year, it’s a gift to the utility. (Some folks, who really dislike PG&E, apparently plan to waste energy at the end of the year if they know they’re running over. Personally, I don’t see the point.)
If that situation changes in the future, I’d guess a lot of people will add panels to their existing photovoltaic installations (up to the limits of their inverters, their connection circuit breakers, or their budgets). I’d also guess the utilities would be lobbying heavily against such a requirement unless it also eased off the rates at which they pay, and they would have a somewhat reasonable argument (e.g., household photovoltaic isn’t a reliable source, and there are grid-maintenance issues).

By: winnebago

winnebago — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:22:25 +0000

Isn’t the electric company obligated to purchase any excess electricity you may produce in California?