The recent dramatic drop it the price of PV solar has made it the primary technology for the US to reduce carbon emissions by 32% by 2030. While it is still questionable if renewables alone can get to the 100% carbon free energy that we need, 32% is still impressive. We will examine how solar, particularly rooftop solar, will play the major role in meeting our short term goals. Here is list of videos to be shown at the meeting:
- Al Gore on the rise of PV Solar
- What rooftop solar has meant to Bangladesh
- A collage I made on net metering from several videos
- The utilities wanting to change the rules on rooftop solar
- The backlash against the utilities
- The story of First Solar
CHALLENGE: In the first video, Al Gore talks about a Minnesota judge who picked solar over natural gas to provide additional electrical capacity. What is going on here? Why is a judge picking an energy source? Doesn't he know that the sun does not shine at night? Why did this happen first in a Northern state instead of a sunnier state down south?
You have a chance to practice your Googling to find out the real story here. Everything Gore said was true, but he left out important details. The true nature of this story is key to understanding the real value of solar to meet our energy goals.
P 41 of the Hickory Ridge Village guidelines addresses solar collectors, in case you are interested in getting some panels. I suspect every village has their own guidelines for them. Here is a link to our guidelines - http://hickoryridgevillage.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/AC-Guidelines-2015.pdf
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