How do we make solar work and why, part 2

In 2010, the average annual electricity consumption for a U.S. residential utility customer was 11,496 kWh, an average of 958 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month. Tennessee had the highest annual consumption at 16,716 kWh and Maine the lowest at 6,252 kWh. 
http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=97&t=3

Using $5.00 per watt as a basis for calculating installation costs, each system costs $37,000 to install, excluding all rebates and tax credits for a 1000 kWh system, just above the national average 958 kWh used.

http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/solar.html
  That $90,000,000,000.00 that was thrown at the solar companies by the U.S. government? You know, the companies that went bankrupt? That $90B would have installed 1000 kWh self sufficient solar systems into 2,432,432.43 homes. Moreover, that economy of scale would have likely reduced the per house cost.That's monthly electrical savings of about $243,243,243.24, or $2,918,928,918.88 per year total, a payback of 30.83 years, the average mortgage length.

So we see a benefit for the home owner, what benefit for all the other homes, people that did not receive the government money for self sufficient electric panels?

Lower electric rates due to the fact that many of these installs will dump power into the grid. More reliable electrical service. A drop in solar system prices. Less dependence on foreign energy, which enhances national security. Cleaner air and water. Jobs.

On jobs, that could be on the order of about 100,000 jobs. That is factored at 1000 companies, (20 per state), 100 jobs per company completing 10 installs per company per week for 2.43 years.

Let's talk some more about jobs, this time on the manufacturing side.
During the last solar "boom" (or bust) in the US, the vast majority of solar panels were coming from overseas, mostly from China, who, with their cheap labor can manufacture goods at a fraction of the cost that we can domestically. Since the solar bust there have been firms in China that have gone out of business for lack of sales.
Now, if we're talking about 2 million plus homes getting solar panels installed, then economy of scale should kick in on the manufacturing side, making solar panels affordably made domestically. That too equates to many more jobs. Thousands, potentially.
Inverters as well. Frames, concrete tiles, wires, maintenance, the list goes on.

So if the homeowner is given the money for the install based on:
1) their house is ideally situated to take full advantage of the solar installation.
2) on the caveat that they will lose $50.00 a month, $600.00 a year in their nominal tax deduction. Why not $1200 a year? Because they need incentive to agree to the install and structural changes in the house, but also due to the fact that many, if not all, insurance companies will charge the homeowner additional monies for their coverage because of the solar panels. So offset that cost by $50.00 a month.

"Well, if they aren't really gaining anything, what's the incentive?" you may ask.

It's the same incentive that people who did not get the panels have in allowing their tax money to be given to the people who got the panel installations, lower electrical rates, more reliable electrical service, a drop in solar system prices, less dependence on foreign energy, which enhances national security, cleaner air and water, and jobs, plus the feel good benefit of doing something good for our planet and our children.

It's not for everyone, for certain, but I think the benefits are very definitely worth it, for the economy, national security, and cleaner energy.

Renewable Energy Means Security and Stability.

Hi all! Quick note before I dive in here. I'm not going to only and always write about paranormal stuff, my apologies as you're bound to be put off, because I do have a wide range of interests. This is not a paranormal post, so change channels now, :-).

Solar, in and of itself, is good, clean, renewable energy. I have been interested in it since I was a little boy when my step dad brought me a solar powered toy car. How the solar industry was subsidized during the recession, however, was poorly executed. Rather than throwing money at the businesses, and expecting them to step up and do the right thing for the public was naive. What we should have done is subsidized ONLY the taxpayers to convert to solar, and let that buying power fuel the solar industry, rather than basically giving the money away while offering only tax credits. Why is this important to the tax payer?
Two words: Energy Independence. E.I. is important to national security in so many ways, that I shouldn't even have to mention it, but let's boil it down this way to save space: Every bit of energy that we can produce domestically reduced that which we have to purchase internationally. Simple. For instance, cheaper, or free, energy for electric cars means less oil that needs to be imported, which means more of our capital kept in our own country. It also means that the middle east, always a hot spot due to oil, becomes exponentially less important to our foreign policy, and make it less likely our young men and women will have to fight and die there.

One way I think we could make some big inroads to energy independence is to institute some mandatory requirements that come packaged with huge tax savings for the consumers, you and I.

1. All new home construction should use solar cell impregnated concrete tile roofs on their sun facing sides. My house has a concrete roof, and as long as we don't walk on it the roof will last virtually forever. Each tile is molded to reduce weight while enhancing strength, and it's a relatively simple thing to mold them to allow installation of a solar cell in their upper surface, each roof tile pre wired, run to either a single inverter or to a series of smaller, modular inverters. I have seen this concept in the field, and it is effective, and a lot less ugly than the large metal frame arrays. Best of all, they are incorporated into the home's structure. This translates into massive energy $avings for the consumer, especially when the surplus is sold back to the utilities. The downside is that the cells will likely have to be replaced in about 20 years, but by that time the state of the art cells will be that much more efficient.

2. Older homes being re-roofed (asphalt tiles last about 20 to 25 years, architectural tiles up to about 35) should be re roofed in the same fashion as new construction, with solar concrete tiles, the trusses and rafters re enforced when needed to cope with the additional weight. What most people don't know is that an asphalt roof is pretty heavy by itself, anyone who has laid or removed it will tell you that, and one thing I see in the field quite often is layers upon layers of asphalt roof material layer over each other (a no-no, btw), so in many cases re enforcement of the roof when converting to concrete tiles would not be needed. I have seen and documented serious roof bowing under the weight of previous asphalt roofs replaced with concrete, so it does happen.

3. All large, flat roof structure buildings (malls, supermarkets, plants, warehouses) should be required to have standard solar panels installed on their roofs, provided they can handle the weight load. Not much of an issue there, very heavy AC units are routinely installed on these surfaces. The business derives all or most it's electrical usage from these panels (FedEx has been doing this) and selling back energy to the utilities when they are not active during daylight hours. All that large, flat space put to work, that is efficiency.

4. Out in 29 Palms a couple weeks ago I saw a solar panel electric farm being built, and I mentioned this to the next person I met with, and I was surprised to learn there were a many more being built in the area, a fact I saw first hand a little later in the day.
Lands that are not developed, likely wont be, and receive a lot of sunlight, I thinks that's a no-brainer. Use them for solar farms. Your country will thank you.

5. Wind. Anybody who has driven the Beaumont to Palm Springs corridor can tell you all about the wind farms out there, harvesting the power of the almost continuous wind that blow through that pass.
These giant propeller driven turbines catch the wind shooting through here 24/7, and oddly they sort of resemble giant house fans in a way, as if the people in that pass are being given relief from the scorching heat by these large fans. Lol.

Ok, that wraps it for now. I firmly believe in alternative energy, renewable energy, and we have all this abundant energy around us all the time for the taking, so I think it's kind of foolish for an "advanced" civilization to not take full advantage of that which nature provides freely.

Finally, if you've made it this far through my post, thank you! You have a longer attention span than I!

Reality TV celebrities, who the hell are they?

So I'm at the store and all the requisite magazines/tabloids are on display, and while waiting I do what everybody does, I gaze at the covers. While doing so it strikes me that, a) Batboy no longer makes the front page, has apparently disappeared, and b) I don't recognize a single one of these "celebrities" they have on the covers.

I say to the checker girl that "I must be getting old. Who are these people?" She shrugs, "I don't know, mostly reality TV celebrities, I think. You know, like the Kardashians."

Ah, that explains it. I rarely watch TV, I don't watch reality shows, and I couldn't care less about the Kardashians or any of their ilk.

To get the "person on the street"'s opinion, and out of general curiosity I ask the girl what the Kardashians are famous for, exactly?
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing" comes the expected reply.

So on my way back to my home office, I'm thinking about that response, and what it really says about our society, our culture, the unabashed idolization of people for no good reason other than they are on the tube and have money, who's sole claim to fame is due to their having a TV show based on their wealthy lives.

Beautiful? Well, I guess they're ok, but I know so many people who are better looking physically, who lack that special insane gene that appears to pack crazy baggage full of nutty drama. There are soldiers and law enforcement personnel of all genders and proclivities who warrant attention and idolization far more than these reality TV folks, but they simply quietly go about their lives quietly living in dignity.

So I guess my question is, what price for your dignity? For your integrity? For your lifeblood, toil and soul?
Do you yourself sell your valuable time consumed in the trivial lives of well heeled "reality" television personalities, and if so, why? What's the payback?