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Old 08-18-2017, 07:25 PM   #32 (permalink)
RedDevil
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Location: Nieuwegein, the Netherlands
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Red Devil - '11 Honda Insight Elegance
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Paying about €0.16/kWh right now. Mostly tax and transportation fee, of course.

And that's what is keeping the giant solar panel farms away - yet.
As the real cost of electricity is closer to €0.05/kWh it does not get profitable to fill wastelands over here with solar panels commercially - yet.
A solar array on your house is profitable, as it competes with the 16 cent rate.
But don't produce an overage as you'll get just 5 cents per kWh for it - at best...

But we have a new offshore wind park under construction where the subsidies cover only a fraction of costs. And a new offshore wind park construction agreement is open to bidders, and it will be unsubsidized.
Due to its scale and previous experiences it is expected to be taken on anyway. Commercial unsubsidized wind power now is a competitive option on the energy market. it is here and it will never go away, only get bigger.

Windmills have dried out our marshes and lakes, cut our timber wood and ground our flour for centuries and will go on to charge our iPhones and power our data centers.

Solar is coming though. Panels and inverters get cheaper and will at some point tip the commercial scales. It already nearly does.
I'm watching the needle move to the right...
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2011 Honda Insight + HID, LEDs, tiny PV panel, extra brake pad return springs, neutral wheel alignment, 44/42 PSI (air), PHEV light (inop), tightened wheel nut.
lifetime FE over 0.2 Gigameter or 0.13 Megamile.


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