the switch to wind

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Erasmo

I'm not sure how the regulation is state-side but in the EU inverters also have to cut out when the grid goes down. Seems a sensible regulation to me.


If you're not able to put PV on your roof because you live in a flat or something, why not switch suppliers and go to a green competitor?

I'm living in a rural area which has only an electric coop as the sole provider.Since we're self-owned,any efficiencies are returned to us as stake-holders,and since 2009,the coop has provided an option for members to access renewable energy.
The coop owns 2-solar photovoltaic farms but I can't afford it.
The coop's wind option only costs an extra penny per kW-hr.
I'm no longer in a position to afford my own PV or wind system.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Stubby79

We don't have the option to switch to wind or solar...

...probably because it's all hydro power here.

That's a nice problem to have!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I'm still hoping for aerohead to stop by and explain "[the] electric cooperative's solar farm photovoltaic power option". I suspect it would make the ensuing discussion moot.

In terms of a 'roll-your-own' grid tie; I would think a properly engineered retro-fit would incorporate a DC-DC inverter and a battery storage bank in some configuration.

Start at the loose end, 5V USB, a 12V LED lighting system, maybe a 24V utility circuit (refrigerators); but definitely a buck/boost circuit so you can run OEM vehicle components like the heat pump for a new Leaf.

Then think carefully about a grid intertie and how the economics and politics will shake out down the road.

The coop bought the real estate from a defunct peanut farm in Denton County and covered the whole field with PVs.And through a grid-tied synchronous inverter,wheels the power onto it's grid.
To enroll,requires a different meter ($20 extra/month),and you must purchase 200-kW-hr blocks of power ($25/each).
Typically,I use around 110-kW-hrs/month.So I'd be economically penalized switching to the solar.The typical Texas single family residence consumes an average 1,100-kW-hrs/month.Those folks wouldn't fell the same 'pain' as me.
The wind option increases my monthly bill by only $1.10 for most months.

[freebeard]

IIRC there're three possible types of business organization: Limited partnership, incorporation, and cooperatives. Beyond utilities, you find cooperatives in credit unions and dairy coops.

Carried to the logical conclusion, it becomes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-syndicalism

<Googles "Denton fracking> Oh my!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

IIRC there're three possible types of business organization: Limited partnership, incorporation, and cooperatives. Beyond utilities, you find cooperatives in credit unions and dairy coops.

Carried to the logical conclusion, it becomes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-syndicalism

<Googles "Denton fracking> Oh my!

Denton County residents managed to pass a fracking ban which was subsequently overturned at the state level.
The Denton governments' Municipal Employee Retirement System pension investment portfolio is heavy into energy at all levels.
Ditto for the Texas Retirement System.
And under the state's Rule of Capture,it's hard to have any 'home rule',including the means by which minerals are captured.
It's all legal. Like the rule of law during slavery.

[oil pan 4]

Time to blow up this post.
This is the fate of all the early wind turbines.

boom!

[Piotrsko]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Time to blow up this post.
This is the fate of all the early wind turbines.

No it wasn't. Bunches of eggbeaters were stopped and disassembeled, and the generators were recycled. Coldwater canyon had it's 2500kw farm sold for salvage, and there are still hundreds of mitsu's outside of mojave and Palm springs turning. Those early mitsu were known to be a PITA. LUCKILY they didn't sell many.

[oil pan 4]

There's still lots of them going. This is what will happen to them. The ones in new mexico are old and wearing out first. Those things are probably up to 4 times the maintenance for half the electricity.