Winter Sunshine

As we draw near the Winter Solstice, when the shortest days of the year induce winter somnolence, my son reminded me to check the output of our 1 kW Photo voltaic unit. On a cold and sunny day we generated 2.85 kWh of electricity, a bit more than I had expected.
Although the temperature dipped to below 0 degrees C and we experienced a frost, I have been sitting inside without heating, reading my Renew Magazine.

"The full cycle: How sustainable is solar PV" by Alex Bruce, pg 40 (issue 124 Jul-Sep 2013) explained the concept of Life Cycle Assessment. Here all the energy inputs into the device- resource extraction, manufacture, transport, life-cycle use and death- are calculated and and compared with the energy produced by the unit. The full range of inputs is discussed in the report but given my mathematics is a bit challenged, I'll accept the author's conclusion.
Their case study indicated that the PV unit paid for itself in CO2 equivalents in just over 3 years. 

With an expected lifetime production of power of greater than20 years that's a clear win for the carbon sustainability of PhotoVoltaic panels. 
A quote in the article "It is better to be vaguely right than exactly wrong" comes comes from Carveth Read, the British philosopher and logician.    

So renewable energy, generated by the sun, wind, geothermal etc, sounds vaguely right to me. That we are only slowly getting there is no reason to turn our back on the development of these technologies. Change is always hard particularly for entrenched interests such as the fossil energy producers. 
If renewable energy can produce 13.14% of Australia's energy in 2012 (Clean Energy Report 2012 reported in Renew Magazine ) and provide employment for 24,300 people then there is room for considerable improvement.
The same reports indicated 90% of people took some kind of action to reduce their energy bills in 2012. Price signals from combined actions such as the Carbon Tax and Renewable Energy Targets are having an impact, so lets keep them.
So join with others who feel renewable energy use is important. Join the ATA, subscribe to Renew Magazine, join Solar Citizens and other advocacy organisations and put your voice and political power behind these organisations.
But beware of "Turbulent Times Ahead" - but that's another story written by Ben Eltham in New Matilda.

"Sunny Times Ahead" whilst we flood

Flooding Nov 2007

As the rain continued to fall yesterday leading to flooding in Gippsland and parts of Melbourne, I was reading my paper copy of Choice Magazine. "Sunny Times Ahead" detailed the findings by the Alternative Technology Association, ATA, on the payback periods for Solar Power ( PV) throughout Australia.

Whilst now is a good time to buy current solar technology, the fall in the Australian dollar will lead to an increase in the price of panels, in the short term at least. Long term, I would have thought the outlook is sunny with further reductions in costs and increases in efficiency as more research is done.
What concerned me is the question "Is bigger better?" on page 39 of the article.

In purely economic terms, the answer is no. The changes to Feed in Tariff's(FiT) have mean't that consumers are actively penalized from installing as much capacity as our roofs can stand. This means the Electricity companies are continuing to produce highly polluting, carbon rich electricity, particularly in Victoria with little thought of the environmental consequences. So if you considered only the environment, then big is certainly better!

If all the roofs in Melbourne, capable of producing solar power, were encouraged to produce and feed into the grid, then more CO2 free electricity is produced, less infrastructure in terms of new Coal Powered Generation is required. (Gas Powered generation will be required to load balance at the moment).

Research has shown that the current level of Solar Power, plus other renewable energy is reducing the cost of peak power. It is incredibly short-sighted to reduce this energy input and will make those who are poorer and don't own their own roofs more susceptible to "electricity supply gold plating". See the following article by the Age and checkout the Melbourne Energy Institute web site for more in-depth, knowledgeable articles.

That's why I have joined Solar Citizens, the ATA and the Australian Consumer Association. I want my voice to be heard, my roof to produce as much solar as it can (within my limited budget) and know that I am at least trying to reduce my environmental impact, before it all becomes irrelevant (EROEI stuff).