Solar Bill of Rights©

January 3rd, 2010 by Zachary Shahan

This is something very interesting, and perhaps powerful, that I recently ran across. You want solar? Sign the Solar Bill of Rights©.

The Solar Bill of Rights© created by the Solar Energy Industries Association includes 8 key things that Americans and the solar industry need in order to be on equal grounds with other energy sources.

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As the Solar Bill of Rights© starts off, “We declare these rights not on behalf of our companies, but on behalf of our customers and our country. We seek no more than the freedom to compete on equal terms and no more than the liberty for consumers to choose the energy source they think best.”

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

JJ

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JJ

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JJ

Hey why can’t we have a bill of rights for clean nuclear power too or are you prejudiced.

You know that solar energy generates continuously about 6W/m sq on avg for most solar power plants considering the entire land use (more or less). To really cover every US citizen avg energy bill for entire lifestyle costs about 8kWhr*20 per day (2x the UK value). That means a land use of 160k / 6×24 sq m or about 1100 sq m or roughly 12,000 sq ft per person covered with PV, wind turbines or other solar tech. That is alot more than the kind of roof top numbers we usually think about because those do not include the equiv energy in all the fossil fuels burnt.

The US might be able to do it, Europe couldn’t do half that.

On the other hand nuclear “only” generates 1000W/ sq m. So the land use per person is about 7 sq m or about 75 sq ft which is practical for even the most densely populated rich countries. What that means is a 1GW electric plant per 150K people at $13K per head if each 1GW plant is $2B and sits on a 1 sq km. The land use is about half that of a modest home foot print.

These numbers sound astronomical because we were covered by fossil fuels which we never paid the generation costs for, only the very final refining cost. The earth and sun did the generation over millenia free of charge. With out that crutch, we will have to pay it full on for the lifestyles we have now. Europe does the same thing, half the lifestyle, half the cost.

The math is gone over in great detail in this free to own pdf textbook by Prof David Mackay called “Sustainable Energy — without the hot air”. Its so good every cabinet minister has to read it.
JJ

Hey why can’t we have a bill of rights for clean nuclear power too or are you prejudiced.

You know that solar energy generates continuously about 6W/m sq on avg for most solar power plants considering the entire land use (more or less). To really cover every US citizen avg energy bill for entire lifestyle costs about 8kWhr*20 per day (2x the UK value). That means a land use of 160k / 6×24 sq m or about 1100 sq m or roughly 12,000 sq ft per person covered with PV, wind turbines or other solar tech. That is alot more than the kind of roof top numbers we usually think about because those do not include the equiv energy in all the fossil fuels burnt.

The US might be able to do it, Europe couldn’t do half that.

On the other hand nuclear “only” generates 1000W/ sq m. So the land use per person is about 7 sq m or about 75 sq ft which is practical for even the most densely populated rich countries. What that means is a 1GW electric plant per 150K people at $13K per head if each 1GW plant is $2B and sits on a 1 sq km. The land use is about half that of a modest home foot print.

These numbers sound astronomical because we were covered by fossil fuels which we never paid the generation costs for, only the very final refining cost. The earth and sun did the generation over millenia free of charge. With out that crutch, we will have to pay it full on for the lifestyles we have now. Europe does the same thing, half the lifestyle, half the cost.

The math is gone over in great detail in this free to own pdf textbook by Prof David Mackay called “Sustainable Energy — without the hot air”. Its so good every cabinet minister has to read it.
JJ

Hey why can’t we have a bill of rights for clean nuclear power too or are you prejudiced.

You know that solar energy generates continuously about 6W/m sq on avg for most solar power plants considering the entire land use (more or less). To really cover every US citizen avg energy bill for entire lifestyle costs about 8kWhr*20 per day (2x the UK value). That means a land use of 160k / 6×24 or about 1100 sq m or roughly 12,000 sq ft per person covered with PV or other solar tech. That is alot more than the kind of roof top numbers we usually think about because those do not include the equiv energy in all the fossil fuels burnt.

The US might be able to do it, Europe couldn’t do half that.

On the other hand nuclear “only” generates 1000W/ sq m. So the land use per person is about 7 sq m or about 70 sq ft which is practical for even the most densely populated rich countries. What that means is a 1GW electric plant per 150K people at $13K per head if each 1GW plant is $2B and sits on a 1 sq km.

These numbers sound astronomical because we were covered by fossil fuels which we never paid the generation costs for, only the very final refining cost. The earth and sun did the generation over millenia. With out that crutch, we will have to pay it full on for the lifestyles we have now. Europe does the same thing, half the lifestyle, half the cost.

The math is gone over in great detail in this free to own pdf textbook by Prof David Mackay called “Sustainable Energy — without the hot air”.
JJ

Hey why can’t we have a bill of rights for clean nuclear power too or are you prejudiced.

You know that solar energy generates continuously about 6W/m sq on avg for most solar power plants considering the entire land use (more or less). To really cover every US citizen avg energy bill for entire lifestyle costs about 8kWhr*20 per day (2x the UK value). That means a land use of 160k / 6×24 or about 1100 sq m or roughly 12,000 sq ft per person covered with PV or other solar tech. That is alot more than the kind of roof top numbers we usually think about because those do not include the equiv energy in all the fossil fuels burnt.

The US might be able to do it, Europe couldn’t do half that.

On the other hand nuclear “only” generates 1000W/ sq m. So the land use per person is about 7 sq m or about 70 sq ft which is practical for even the most densely populated rich countries. What that means is a 1GW electric plant per 150K people at $13K per head if each 1GW plant is $2B and sits on a 1 sq km.

These numbers sound astronomical because we were covered by fossil fuels which we never paid the generation costs for, only the very final refining cost. The earth and sun did the generation over millenia. With out that crutch, we will have to pay it full on for the lifestyles we have now. Europe does the same thing, half the lifestyle, half the cost.

The math is gone over in great detail in this free to own pdf textbook by Prof David Mackay called “Sustainable Energy — without the hot air”.