Tag Archives: Territorial Electric Service Act

Wind and solar were all the new U.S. electric generation in September 2012

Wind and sun provided all the new electric power generation
deployed in September 2012.
As Moore’s Law continues to decrease solar prices, solar
power gets deployed still more rapidly,
and wind also gets installed on time and on budget.
Meanwhile, nuclear takes a

three-legged nuclear regulatory-capture stool
and hardly any new reactors get finished anyway.


Stephen Lacey wrote for TP Climate Progress 24 October 2012,

Wind And Solar Make Up 100% Of New U.S. Electricity Capacity In September,

September was tied for the

hottest of any September on record
globally. It was also a very hot month for renewable energy in the
U.S. According

to figures from the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, wind and solar accounted for all new electricity
capacity added to America’s grid in September.

New wind is up 25% Jan-Sep 2012 over the same period last year,
and new solar is up 78%.
For comparison, new coal is

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Softbank’s Son to install solar in Japan: watch out, Georgia Power!

The same Masayoshi Son who shook up Japan’s Internet market

and is about to do the same in the U.S.
is moving to modify Japan’s power market from nuclear to solar.
Watch out, Georgia Power and Southern Company!
If you don’t get a move on, Son-san will eat your lunch, too.

Mariko Yasu wrote for Bloomberg Businessweek 23 June 2011,

Softbank’s CEO Wants a Solar-Powered Japan,


Masayoshi Son
Billionaire Masayoshi Son made a fortune taking on Japan’s phone
monopoly. Now he aims to shake up its power utilities after the
worst nuclear crisis in 25 years. The 53-year-old chief executive
officer of Softbank says he will build solar farms to generate
electricity, with support from at least 33 of Japan’s 47
prefectures. He’s asking for access to transmission networks owned
by the 10 regional utilities and an agreement that they buy his
electricity. No other company has secured unlimited access to the
those transmission networks. The utilities would not comment.
Japan’s main business organization, the Keidanren, called for
“careful analysis” before any drastic change in the power system
took place.

If Japan ever felt ready to back Son’s ambitious plan, this is the
moment. Radiation has spread across at least 600 square kilometers
(230 square miles) in the northeast since the Mar. 11 earthquake and
tsunami led to meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant.
Outgoing Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in May he will rethink a plan
to increase atomic power to 50 percent of the nation’s energy output
from 30 percent. Renewable energy already accounts for 10 percent,
according to Japan’s Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. Son
wants to see that tripled by 2020. “The question is how this nation
is going to survive after cutting nuclear power,” he said at a
government panel meeting on June 12.


Complacent Georgia Power and SO, you maybe don’t think he can do it?
NTT probably thought that, too:

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1.5MW solar field near Philadelphia

Far to the north of here, a botanical garden installed
more than a megawatt of solar power a year ago.
Maybe Georgia Power should ask them how it’s done.

PR of 16 June 2011,

LONGWOOD GARDENS COMMISSIONS 10-ACRE SOLAR FIELD:
Installation first step of goal to achieve 3 MW of solar energy by 2018



June 16, 2011, Kennett Square, PA — Longwood Gardens today
commissioned a new, ground-mounted solar field spanning more than 10
acres at the horticultural showplace in Kennett Square,
Pennsylvania.

One of the largest examples of clean emission-free energy in the
region, the solar field produces 1.2 MW (megawatts) of power and
will produce 1.5 MW when the final panels are installed in the
coming weeks. The fixed-tilt, 1.5 MW solar installation will produce
enough electricity to offset the usage of approximately 138 average
Pennsylvania homes and reduce Longwood’s annual carbon dioxide
emissions by 1,367 tons.

“We are always looking for ways to advance our sustainable
practices,” said Paul Redman, Longwood Gardens Director.
“It is integral to Longwood’s mission to decrease our
dependence on fossil fuels.” We want to establish best
practices and lead the way in showing communities how to live
responsibly,” said Redman.

Imagine if Georgia Power and Southern Company acted responsibly
and led the way in solar power!

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Automated solar sizing from Rakuten in Japan

Stateside some of the lengthiest parts of a solar installation are finding an installer and getting them to get around to making an estimate. A Japanese retailer is leverage google maps to do all that online.

Asahi Shimbun wrote today, Rakuten to market home solar power systems via mouse click

Online retailer Rakuten Inc. will begin selling residential solar power generation systems this month priced about 40 percent lower than similar conventional products.

Customers can get a price estimate by accessing the new Rakuten Solar website and clicking on the roof of their house on an aerial photo provided by Google Maps, the company said July 9.

The company will be able to cut costs by eliminating the distribution process.

Prices for a detached house will start at 950,000 yen ($12,000), including installation costs. Taxes are not included.

That’s very reasonable. Although the story doesn’t say what sort of size in kilowatts DC or kilowatt hours AC that $12,000 would buy.

A bit more on how it works, and whether we could do that here:

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