Solar Panel rebates?!!? (RANT)

[Dredly]

I was just watching some "Green energy" show and this guy in Austin Texas is putting 21,000 worth of solar panels on his home residence, it will cover an estimate 75% of his monthly energy usage

Austin Texas Power will give a 65%+ rebate towards the installation of solar panels. The gov't kicks in another 2K rebate...

What does PA give? (PPL / MetEd) - THEY GIVE A FUCKING BILL! Yeah when you install "green" energy they give you a bill for hooking it up to the grid, they bill you monthly for the meter that can read the energy and they pay an insanely small amount / month for electricity fed back into the system while still charging the full amount for any electricity used. Estimates have put the increase at 10 - 20% OR MORE.

And to top it off they are expecting record increases as soon as the "regulation" goes away because of their insanely stupid "open market" bull shit that they attempted to make sound good but in reality... it doesn't do anything. We are charged more for electric then most of the rest of the country and we give millions a year for "green energy" initiatives... but these are only available to business and not to average residents...

grrrrr

[Bmarshall91]

so put your own solar panels up and run your home completely off of those.... screw the power company...

[Dredly]

so put your own solar panels up and run your home completely off of those.... screw the power company...

i don't have the 50k it would cost to do that....

[Farbmeister]

Solar has a way to long payback. PPL needs you on the grid because of regulations making power more expensive to produce. Transmission costs should be the same as once a pole is up.. there's not much to it (plus they get legal rights of way to public properties).

Obama wants to end coal produced electricity... so I have no idea what power companies are gonna burn.. coal is the cheapest and cleanest energy source.

I installed a gas boiler and went to fill out a PPL rebate. They rejected it because the install was free. Long run free installation (dig up street, run line, meter etc) was much more $$$ than the $800 rebate so my experience was PPL did me a good deal.

[1861]

i don't have the 50k it would cost to do that....

obama will give it to you

[Dredly]

obama will give it to you

I don't want it from him... I want it from either the power company as we already pay way more then the national average or I want it from the state as they are already handing it out but they won't give it to people, only companies...

[larry0071]

Obama wants to end coal produced electricity... so I have no idea what power companies are gonna burn.. coal is the cheapest and cleanest energy source.

Coal is the cheapest and cleanest? Wake up and smell the Nuclear power! Our Nuclear power produces no exhaust and profits more per megawatt than coal. We are very profitable, have no impact on the public and make more power than a coal plant while not needing non-renewable resources. Nuclear power is the true clean power.

Coal Power:

Pros:
Inexpensive
Easy to recover (in U.S. and Russia)

Cons:
Requires expensive air pollution controls (e.g. mercury, sulfur dioxide)
Significant contributor to acid rain and global warming
Requires extensive transportation system

Nuclear Power:



Pros:
Fuel is inexpensive.
Energy generation is the most concentrated source.
Waste is more compact than any source.
Extensive scientific basis for the cycle.
Easy to transport as new fuel.
No greenhouse or acid rain effects.
the energy produced per amount of material consumed is the highest available
costs are competitive with coal, the major source used in the world.
uranium, the source material, is abundant.
plutonium, a by-product of commercial nuclear plant operation, can also be used as a fuel.
the amount of waste produced is the least of any major energy production process.
nuclear energy provides benefits other than electricity generation.


Cons:
Requires larger capital cost because of emergency, containment, radioactive waste and storage systems.
Requires resolution of the long-term high level waste storage issue in most countries.
Potential nuclear proliferation issue.

Larry - 17 year nuclear worker.

[Perkascene]

I'm sorry Larry, you're going to have to post some facts to back up your argument. That's all hearsay

[larry0071]

I'm sorry Larry, you're going to have to post some facts to back up your argument. That's all hearsay

Im a hard core PRO-Nukey guy.... Our company owns coal, nuclear and hydro power generating stations as do most companies that are in this game, and our 3 Nuclear plants are by far the cash cows.....this one here is by far the most profitable of the 3. Bottom line is that Nuclear power is the way to go. Westinghouse is prepping for new reactor construction. The NRC has granted...what....9 new liscenses for reactors for the United States so far. Over in New Jersey you have Oyster Creek going (successfully) through the liscense renewal process for thier 41 year old reactor...the oldest running reactor in existance.

Many plants (both pressure and boiling water designs) are able to be...and have been upgraded with newer technology turbines and steam generators that allows more and more megawatts of power to be produced from the same plant that may have been assembled in the 60's or 70's. These bad boys put out the juice!

I look at a Nuke plant like a well tuned hot rod....these things are mean, lean, power producing machines.... I am part of the team that keeps it running like that. I spend 9 hrs a day setting 200 feet from the turbine and maybe 100 yards from the reactor... I have a vested interest in this thing running safe. This is my baby, you want horsepower....we make a shit ton of power with our turbines.

Coal power is still needed, we need all the sources of electricity that we can get. Although with this economy... many of our large customers are closing the doors or elliminating night shift due to slow purchasing forcing production to slow down and lay offs to occur. When the factories and plants that produce goods slow down, the power consumption slows down... and we are then left with an excess of power. Plus, consumers are defaulting on electric (as well as others) bills and this is hitting us in our bottom line. We all feel the pain of this economy.... But never think that coal is the solution to power demand, it is a part of the pie though.....

More than 100 nuclear power plants supply about 20% of the electricity used in the U.S. The U.S. electricity high voltage transmission lines are interconnected. So practically everybody in the lower 48 states gets some electricity from nuclear energy—even if there isn't a nuclear power plant in each state.

Nuclear power plants contribute to a balanced mix of energy sources because they don't burn anything—and so do not emit any greenhouse gases or other air pollutants. They keep the air clean and protect the environment.

America's nuclear power plants are made safe by design, with multiple safety barriers of metal and concrete. The operators are highly qualified professionals. They are trained and tested in certified programs and continually retrained to help ensure safety. The plants are monitored and regulated every day by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspectors stationed at each site.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

One of the coolest plants I was ever working at is Pickering Nuclear located just outside of Pickering Ontario. 8 reactors in a row....thats a bad ass machine right there!

[1861]

Larry , does that one windmill run that whole place?