Comments on: More Solar Power in TX Could Save Consumers Over $520 Million, New Study Finds

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:50:00 +0000

yeah, problem is that a lot of regions still don’t have peak pricing. curious to find details on which do and which don’t. but as more and more start to… and in regions that have peak pricing… it’s hard to imagine that solar isn’t worth the investment yet… most likely is.

By: Zachary Shahan

Zachary Shahan — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:48:00 +0000

yep. pretty sure that’s part of what was taken into account… but maybe not.

wind and solar have a big trump card in these drought-threatened states with that.

By: Stan Stein

Stan Stein — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 12:55:00 +0000

Oh come ON people………they needed a STUDY? You could ask the average 12 yr. old……and I did just that…….asked 10 of them at the school where my girlfriend’s best friend teaches science. They said it was a total no brainer.

By: ToddInNorway

ToddInNorway — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 11:00:00 +0000

PV does not require cooling water. Inland coal and natural gas power plants use very large amounts of cooling water, and during a drought, this is a limiting factor. In the worst case, limits on cooling water will shut down a large number of coal and natural gas plants exactly when they are needed the most! This is yet ANOTHER argument for installing a large PV capacity in Texas-security of electricity supply during hot, drought conditions.

By: Ronald Brak

Ronald Brak — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 02:05:00 +0000

The good news that even installing a few megawatts of solar can make a big difference during peak demand periods, so they should get cracking on solar installations before it gets really hot.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 01:00:00 +0000

This may be about the only thing that saves our butts. If we manage to save them.

Renewable energy is becoming a way to lower energy bills. People like lower bills.

—

It’s looking very nasty in the Arctic. We may well see the first summer sea ice meltout around 2015. Projections are that once we have summer meltouts it will be only ten years or so before the Arctic becomes ice free year round.

Weather may get extremely nasty if we have no ice ‘way up there’ moderating things….

By: jburt56

jburt56 — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 23:16:00 +0000

Yep, they’re ripping them in TX.

By: Michaellumbley

Michaellumbley — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:56:00 +0000

The bitter irony is the cost of a solar MWh, even from an inefficient project, is about $110-$140/MWh. That’s less than than the low end of the savings curve, i.e. IT PAYS FOR ITSELF…, with a net profit.
You can’t sell solar by avoiding global warming, or air quality. You have to make a business case where it makes sense and has a return on investment. When it pays for itself, that becomes a lot easier to do

By: Jeff King

Jeff King — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:40:00 +0000

So if they had as much installed as Germany they wouldnt have to have the threat of black outs all summer

By: awenshok

awenshok — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 21:05:00 +0000

Ohooooo! Texicans just don’t want tot hear that!
Texican ‘JOB CREATORS’ want you to think about ‘values’ and capitalism….nutzz to the consumer….probably from outta state anyway.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:41:00 +0000

When making PV grid parity charts they normally use electric comsumer rates. But for companies that pay peak rates, the grid parity area is much, much larger. In fact it may already be the whole US.

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:01:00 +0000

And rooftop solar (the preferred variety) is producing the energy right where it is consumed, thereby reducing stress on the grid.