What is it with you people! :@

[KichigaiNeko]

And here I am thinking us Aussies are the backward bunch! Shit man!

http://grist.org/article/solar-panels-co...utilities/

Solar power and other distributed renewable energy technologies could lay waste to U.S. power utilities and burn the utility business model, which has remained virtually unchanged for a century, to the ground.

That is not wild-eyed hippie talk. It is the assessment of the utilities themselves.

Back in January, the Edison Electric Institute — the (typically stodgy and backward-looking) trade group of U.S. investor-owned utilities — released a report [PDF] that, as far as I can tell, went almost entirely without notice in the press. That’s a shame. It is one of the most prescient and brutally frank things I’ve ever read about the power sector. It is a rare thing to hear an industry tell the tale of its own incipient obsolescence.

I’ve been thinking about how to convey to you, normal people with healthy social lives and no time to ponder the byzantine nature of the power industry, just what a big deal the coming changes are. They are nothing short of revolutionary … but rather difficult to explain without jargon.

So, just a bit of background. You probably know that electricity is provided by utilities. Some utilities both generate electricity at power plants and provide it to customers over power lines. They are “regulated monopolies,” which means they have sole responsibility for providing power in their service areas. Some utilities have gone through deregulation; in that case, power generation is split off into its own business, while the utility’s job is to purchase power on competitive markets and provide it to customers over the grid it manages.

[thesummerqueen]

Well, they're right...but what are you in arms about specifically?

[Jackalope]

Why, that's all just wild-eyed hippie talk! What are you, some kind of pinko commie?

In all seriousness, I'd like to see more investment in solar power here. I've thought about installing some panels on my house, however, I'm not sure it's cost-effective as I live in one of the least-sunny areas of the U.S. I will admit that I haven't researched the issue thoroughly. Were I in a position to design/build a new home in a sunny area, I'd be seriously looking at energy independence via solar.

A few years ago, they replaced all of the downtown Portland, Oregon parking meters with solar-powered ticket dispensers.

[Rhizomorph13]

Nice! Time to go to City Liquidators to pick up some sweet parking meters!

[Jackalope]

Nice! Time to go to City Liquidators to pick up some sweet parking meters!

At first glance, I was thinking "How the fuck does Rhizo know about City Liquidators?!?!", and then I remembered you live in the area. Haha.

[Rhizomorph13]

I don't know what the fuck I would do with parking meters, I just though it would be funny to drop the reference and see your reaction. Yeah, I live in Hillsboro, right outside of P-town.

[Jackalope]

I don't know what the fuck I would do with parking meters, I just though it would be funny to drop the reference and see your reaction. Yeah, I live in Hillsboro, right outside of P-town.

Yeah, that's what I remembered as well. I used to live kind of out that way off 185th which is now, but wasn't then part of Hillsboro. I live in Vancouver, but currently have my ass planted in a cubicle in downtown Portland.

[Rhizomorph13]

To the OP, I'm also confused as to why this article has you up in arms.

[KichigaiNeko]

The thing that has me up in arms is the supposition that it will "destroy the electricity industry" when said "industry" could make a killing utilising this type of technology for it's own profit.

We currently have the same issue here in Oz. Electricity moguls cry "We are being ruined" but do nothing that captures the fact that all this solar power can be captured for profit. Your average house uses what... 368KwH per month, of which your PV cells create 85-150% of that and feeds back into the grid. (dependant on the season. Here in oz it is nearly all year round)

It is the "into the grid" bit that gets me up in arms when electricity utilities start crying poor. SOMEONE has to manage all that power/ energy and who is better suited than electricity utilities who are too busy crying that the solar panels on houses is doing them out of their nice safe 19th century technology. And no, PV Cells will not supply your base load required for industry so all I am hearing from electricity companies is that "you are pushing us out of our nice safe comfort zone ...how dare you! whine winge whine"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilowatt_hour

[thesummerqueen]

This is what you do with parking meters, Rhiz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bneviIHiIKs