Solar Info

[Hamloc]

Last night had a short visit with a person who works for PCL construction supervising construction of large solar projects. Learned a few things I didn’t know. One project he worked on was Travers solar field at Vulcan. On this project the panels rotate from east to west each day tracking the sun. There are over 17500 motors which rotate panel sections on this project. Apparently wind is a big issue. He said once the wind speed exceeds 23 mph(37 kmh) the panels must be rotated properly to face the wind or the panels could be damaged. This must be done regardless of where the sun is. He also said if clouds roll in you can lose 2-300 megawatts of generation within minutes which certainly keeps the power grid mangers on their toes. As far as batteries go, the AESO would like companies to install more batteries but the only way batteries make financial sense would be if the electricity they store could be sold at times of high demand when the price is 8-900 dollars per megawatt. Of course the AESO wants the power from the batteries available when needed not only when electricity is of very high value, so batteries aren’t financially viable at this point. The final point that he made was there was lots of money to be made putting up solar fields as long as the government keeps shovelling out the money. He was off to Texas this week on another job.

[goalieguy847]

Gad.... i hate to back up CC here...but i live not far from the northwest upgrader outside of Redwater, AB. ( they call it gibbons but its not where even near there).. and i do believe last projections showed that the plant will NEVER pay itself off. It was built in debt ,,with debt,,and will always be debt. BUt was subsidized by every level of govt in alberta * including our own sturgeon county*.
Whether its solar.... hydrogen... diesel... batteries....steel... why do we always need to be subsidizing someone in ordee to help them make money...( oh right.. under the guise of " jobs jobs jobs") i ought not complain though...we are heavily subsidized as Canadian farmers.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Gad.... i hate to back up CC here...but i live not far from the northwest upgrader outside of Redwater, AB. ( they call it gibbons but its not where even near there).. and i do believe last projections showed that the plant will NEVER pay itself off. It was built in debt ,,with debt,,and will always be debt. BUt was subsidized by every level of govt in alberta * including our own sturgeon county*.
Whether its solar.... hydrogen... diesel... batteries....steel... why do we always need to be subsidizing someone in ordee to help them make money...( oh right.. under the guise of " jobs jobs jobs") i ought not complain though...we are heavily subsidized as Canadian farmers.

Or is it because we seem to take Ronald Reagan's words as advice rather than as a warning?
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Bloated bureaucracy, taxes, and impossible environmental/safety/diversity/climate regulations, have resulted in an industry that is already at the "if it stops moving, subsidize it" stage.
Government created the problem, now they come to the rescue with the solution.

[chuckChuck]

So how would you pay for roads, healthcare and education without taxes?