T1B

KC Scott wrote:Gee - that's great except I'm using 4000 Kwh a month

AURORA -- When Dan Lever advertised a quarter-section of farmland for rent east of town, a man replied with an idea for a more permanent crop.

Lever now has 2,100 ground-mounted solar panels shining near his house. "It's not a typical sight in a pastoral area," Lever said. "But we'll get used to it."

The $2 million project buzzed to life July 1, one of the first large-scale participants in Portland General Electric's solar payment option program, which buys electricity produced by customers and transfers it to the electric grid. The 500 kilowatt system is also Clackamas County's largest ground-mounted solar array, practically hidden on some of the area's oldest farmland.

"Nobody really knows about it unless you're one of the neighbors," said Kirk Cameron, whose Lake Oswego-based firm, NW Photon Energy, developed the project.

Cameron expects to produce 575,000 kilowatt-hours every year, enough energy to power 53 homes. A Portland solar funding company Cameron co-owns, 3CSolar, put up half of the $2 million pricetag. Umpqua Bank financed the remainder. The company also received a 30 percent federal rebate, but no state incentives.

An automated system tallies the electricity and bills PGE under a 15-year agreement. The company earns 39 cents per kilowatt-hour, or about $20,000 every month, said Chris Copp, a second 3CSolar partner.

Cameron expects to turn a profit after seven years.

The project covers more than two acres of land tucked behind farmhouses along Southwest Meridian Road, which winds past nurseries and pastures. A wire fence wraps around the property, where 2,128 polycrystalline solar panels face south at a 40-degree tilt.

When Lever, the landowner, first heard about the proposal, he thought of the rising fuel costs that have forced him to charge his own customers more this year. "It's either something like this, or it's going to be high fuel prices," he said. "It's a tradeoff."

Eight workers spent three months installing the panels, purchased from Connecticut-based Schuco USA. Near-record rains stalled construction for about a month, but Copp said the Clackamas County site has a 5 percent solar advantage over similar spots in Multnomah County, based on elevation level and the number of sunny, clear days.

Cameron founded NW Photon Energy three years ago, installing solar systems at area businesses. Earlier this year, he set up a commercial solar system at Sonic in Wilsonville, another participant in the PGE solar program.

But his Oregon projects have dwindled since the legislature eliminated the state's business energy tax credits, he said. "Rather than managing the credits well, they stopped it altogether," he said.

That "drastically, drastically" drained private interest in solar energy, he said. "How does it not? Businesses want to go green, but they can't afford to go green."

Cameron will shift his focus to Nevada and California after he launches the Aurora project, which he doesn't plan to staff.

Instead, the Lever family will wash the panels. A daughter, home for the summer from college, will weed the property.

"I can't do much on a world scale," Lever said. "I can do a little bit."

-- Molly Young

IndyFrisco wrote:

KC Scott wrote:Gee - that's great except I'm using 4000 Kwh a month

Color me green with envy. I'm guessing your energy rates are pretty damn high if you are getting only 4000 kwh for $550. My last bill was $742 for 7585 kwh. I guess I should feel lucky that Indiana's per kwh rate is around 10 cents. Seen it as high as 32 cents in other states.

IndyFrisco wrote:

KC Scott wrote:Gee - that's great except I'm using 4000 Kwh a month

Color me green with envy. I'm guessing your energy rates are pretty damn high if you are getting only 4000 kwh for $550. My last bill was $742 for 7585 kwh. I guess I should feel lucky that Indiana's per kwh rate is around 10 cents. Seen it as high as 32 cents in other states.

Something is wrong with our house. I'm having an energy efficiency company come check it out. Either I have very little insulation or some major air leaks. Our AC units tend to run nonstop. I plan on going geothermal, but I was not planning to do that until we completed our expansion of the family room. Something's gotta be done now because ~7500 kwh is ridiculous.

KC Scott wrote:Supposedly with the Nat Gas shale discovery at Bakken, Eagleford and Marcellus we have so much we don't know what to do with it all.

Dinsdale wrote:That's our geniuses at work -- buy electricity for $0.39, then turn around and sell it for $0.10, while the tit-sucking grifters get rich.

That's Green Economics.

A study of renewable energy in Scotland shows that for every job created in the alternative energy sector, almost four jobs are lost in the rest of the economy.

If these numbers were extrapolated to America, instead of a touted 3 million-job gain from alternative energy, we should expect the loss of at least 6.6 million jobs in other industries.

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysi ... -Job-.aspx

KC Scott wrote:

IndyFrisco wrote:

KC Scott wrote:Gee - that's great except I'm using 4000 Kwh a month

Color me green with envy. I'm guessing your energy rates are pretty damn high if you are getting only 4000 kwh for $550. My last bill was $742 for 7585 kwh. I guess I should feel lucky that Indiana's per kwh rate is around 10 cents. Seen it as high as 32 cents in other states.

For June I used 4309 KW/H and the bill was 553 so it worked out to 12.8 cents per hour which little miss sunshhine told me was sorta high in comparison to KCPL.

Mikey wrote: Damn, you guys are real energy hogs. For 5/23 through 6/23 our bill was 853 kWh ($187). I guess that comes from living with high rates for so long.

How big is your place? anything run non stop besides your pool motor?

Go Coogs' wrote:Scott, have you looked into a heat pump?

From what my brother-in-law tells me, he is supposed to get his money back in seven years.

If it was just the AC I'd consider it, but I'd need to buy two beacuse we have zoned AC.

It spikes in the summer to be sure, but we average 2,000 KWH in the winter
I have two kids and a wife at home that never saw a light, TV or computer they can remember to turn off

This year we trned on the AC mid-May and it will probably run through end of Sept.

Martyred wrote:Not all solar power necessarily means photo-voltaic.

Dinsdale wrote:you're a mouthbreating tard, and you probably say things like "at this point in time," and "stupid idiot" a lot.

smackaholic wrote:boost it up to higher temps

War Wagon wrote:ah yes, another $cott thread informing everyone of what a copious consumer he is... for those that hadn't got it already.

smackaholic wrote:mikey,

if you don't run out and buy a whole house fan yesterday, you are nearly as dumb as let's turd.....and gax......and love black cock...etc.....so on.

it makes double sense for you as all that socal sun generated thermal mass will hang around like unwelcome inlaws unless you blow it out your ass errrr roof.

one thing i don't get. why the fukk don't you get a solar water heater. you know, the smart solar. the kind that just takes all that radiant heat goodness and stuffs it in a water tank the old fashioned way. a dr science smarty pants like you could rig one up yourself. and unlike all that other foolishness, it makes sense, is cheap and will help the planet....almost as much as algore does flying around in a big private jet collecting carbon credits.

such a heater would get you all the 100 degree water you need. maybe use your propane to boost it up to higher temps for the dishwasher/warshin' machine.

Mikey wrote:Solar water heating isn't as simple as you might think. For one thing, you have to use all the hot water or figure out a way to keep it from over heating in hot weather.

Dinsdale wrote: And while I was typing that, the Board Grammarian comes up with...

smackaholic wrote:boost it up to higher temps

Mikey wrote:

smackaholic wrote:mikey,

if you don't run out and buy a whole house fan yesterday, you are nearly as dumb as let's turd.....and gax......and love black cock...etc.....so on.

it makes double sense for you as all that socal sun generated thermal mass will hang around like unwelcome inlaws unless you blow it out your ass errrr roof.

one thing i don't get. why the fukk don't you get a solar water heater. you know, the smart solar. the kind that just takes all that radiant heat goodness and stuffs it in a water tank the old fashioned way. a dr science smarty pants like you could rig one up yourself. and unlike all that other foolishness, it makes sense, is cheap and will help the planet....almost as much as algore does flying around in a big private jet collecting carbon credits.

such a heater would get you all the 100 degree water you need. maybe use your propane to boost it up to higher temps for the dishwasher/warshin' machine.

Solar water heating isn't as simple as you might think. For one thing, you have to use all the hot water or figure out a way to keep it from over heating in hot weather. Not that it's really complicated, but it's not just a matter of throwing up a few collectors and a storage tank. And the savings potential really just isn't that great. How much do you figure you spend on hot water (if you have gas) vs. electricity?

Besides, I already do have most of the west facing roof of my house covered with a solar water heater. For the pool.

smackaholic wrote:

Dinsdale wrote: And while I was typing that, the Board Grammarian comes up with...

smackaholic wrote:boost it up to higher temps

let's see, there ain't none of them dreaded apostrophe thingies there. what'd i fukk up?

smackaholic wrote: Seems like that pool could serve as a convenient heat dump if things got cooking too much. does it get to the point where the pool is too hot to use like it does in the L&R?

Mikey wrote:

smackaholic wrote: Seems like that pool could serve as a convenient heat dump if things got cooking too much. does it get to the point where the pool is too hot to use like it does in the L&R?

Doesn't get too hot to use but by midsummer I'm not running the heater anymore to heat the pool. On hot days the pool will get up to 85 or 86 with no heater. Almost too hot to swim laps in but not to hot to jump in after yard work. On days like that, though, I can heat the spa up to 102 in 30 or 45 minutes with solar only.

Y2K wrote:

Mikey wrote:

smackaholic wrote: Seems like that pool could serve as a convenient heat dump if things got cooking too much. does it get to the point where the pool is too hot to use like it does in the L&R?

Doesn't get too hot to use but by midsummer I'm not running the heater anymore to heat the pool. On hot days the pool will get up to 85 or 86 with no heater. Almost too hot to swim laps in but not to hot to jump in after yard work. On days like that, though, I can heat the spa up to 102 in 30 or 45 minutes with solar only.

You live in local..you are not allowed to talk about weather...just wait fot the big one ...mmmkay?

Dinsdale wrote:

smackaholic wrote: Seriously?


Your struggles with American English have become legendary.


Are you sure Mikey doesn't want to boost it down to higher temps?

Dinsdale wrote:

smackaholic wrote:let's see, there ain't none of them dreaded apostrophe thingies there. what'd i fukk up?

Seriously?


Your struggles with American English have become legendary.


Are you sure Mikey doesn't want to boost it down to higher temps?

smackaholic wrote:clumsily worded, perhaps, but that's not grammar, dumbshit.