permaculture

[Mitra Ardron <mitra_lists@earth.path.net>]

It seems this is how stories get started and go out of control ... 
Toby only guessed there are 1000 people in the building, and but he 
made teh assumption that the  system is off-grid, which seems hardly 
likely, nor sensible given their location.

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=47438

First, a little analysis - check the photo on the article, presuming 
each window is 2.5m square, and you get 64 * 12 * 2.5^2 * 4 = 19,200 
sq meters, which presumably handles a lot more than 1000 people.

But all of that is irrelevant, since presumably the system is 
grid-interactive! And they are still either feeding to, or sucking 
from the grid.

The real question is how much power they are getting, and at what 
price per installed watt, and I presume that this will be a 
competitive tender, on a high profile project that everyone is going 
to want, so they'll probably get a sweetheart deal.

- Mitra


At 2:10 AM -0500 18/2/07, Lawrence F. London, Jr. wrote:
> Toby Hemenway wrote:
>
> >  They're going to buy a 30 million dollar solar array for DOE? That buys a
> >  pretty dang big array. If there are 1000 people in that building, that's
> >  $30,000 for each person that they get off the grid.
>
> $30ooo is what it would cost to provide off grid power for a small family.
>
> 3 1000 watt Bergey windmills + towers
> Photowatt Kyocera BP or other photovoltaic panels - maybe a 3000 
> watt array with mounting hardware
> Bank of Rolls deep cycle 10 year guaranteed batteries (300 lbs each) + wiring
> Trace 24 volt inverter, maybe a 48 volt system is available now
> Service panel to connect house, well pump to power source at inverter
> Underground drop from windmills and solar arrays (#2 copper)
>
> For all this it could cost even more, maybe $35K-40K total cost for 
> entire system less house wiring.
> This is the top of the line pricey system but very durable and 
> reliable with long service life;
> no golf cart batteries.
>
> And they want to spend $30000 per person, in a building-wide system, 
> wen the government is getting
> the equipment at wholesale cost?  What a ripoff for taxpayers.
>
> --
> Lawrence F. London, Jr.
> Venaura Farm
> lfl@intrex.net
> http://market-farming.com
> http://market-farming.com/venaurafarm
> http://venaurafarm.blogspot.com/
> http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech
>
> _______________________________________________
> permaculture mailing list
> permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture


--
Mitra Ardron:  Natural Innovation  & Zelfo Australia
home/office +61-2-6684-8096  mobile +61-414-648-722  mitra@mitra.biz
www.naturalinnovation.org and Blog: www.mitra.biz/blog
www.zelfoaustralia.com
skype: mitra_earth

Life is a Mystery to be Lived, not a Problem to be Solved