A Solar Boom So Successful, It’s Been Halted
Dec 21, 2013 | Cryptagon
Greed and incompetence at power companies are running up against the unstoppable force of distributed power generation.
Not long to go now.
Germans laugh at this, by the way.
Flashback 2011: Residential Energy Storage with Underground Flywheels
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Update 2013: Velkess: New Residential Scale Flywheel Design
Via: Scientific American:
William Walker and his wife, Mi Chong, wanted to join what’s seen
as a solar revolution in Hawaii. Shortly after buying their Oahu home
earlier this year, they plunked down $35,000 for a rooftop photovoltaic
system.
The couple looked forward to joining neighbors who had added panels,
to cutting their $250 monthly power bills and to knowing they were
helping the environment.
Their plans shifted the day after the PV panels went up in early
October. The Walkers learned from a neighbor about a major change in the
local utility’s solar policy. It led to those 18 panels sitting dormant
nearly three months later.
Hawaiian Electric Co., or HECO, in September told solar contractors
on Oahu that the island’s solar boom is creating problems. On many
circuits, the utility said, there’s so much solar energy that it poses a
threat to the system and a safety issue. Studies are needed on whether
grid upgrades are necessary. If they are, residents adding solar must
foot the bill. And starting immediately, contractors and residents would
need permission to connect most small rooftop systems to the grid.
The new HECO policy was included deep in the text of emails the
Walkers’ solar contractor had sent, but it escaped their notice before
installation. They’re now paying $300 per month on a loan for the
panels, plus the $250 electric bill.
“It goes from frustration to outrage,” William Walker, 33,
said of his reaction. “We hear the excuses that HECO provides, that they
put out there at least as far as the justification. There’s really not a
lot of substantiation. My belief is it’s purely profit-motivated, to
keep people away from PV and keep them on the grid.”
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