That’s a pretty brilliant idea. Better than having the government telling you when you can and can’t use the juice aka rationing. Maybe a new type of interstate energy market might emerge.

“Called Consumer Net Metering, this new regulation finally does an end-run around an insane California law that only allowed utility companies to sell electricity; a restriction that had been putting a serious damper on small and alternative solar projects.”

Isn’t nice when the government backs off and allows the markets to do their thing a little?

“But a new law will now force them to pay in real money, as in cold hard checks they’ll soon start getting in their mailboxes.”

That sounds pretty cool. Alaska has this similar thing where oil royalties are paid to its residents and it arrives in their mailboxes.

Sighs….Where is Ronald Reagan when you need to expose communist moles withing Hollywood?

If something dramatic happens like energy shortages, California will definately be on the spotlight. It would be interesting how a state with water problems, sprawling cities, and farms out in the middle of the desert, along with its technological base would fare.

“Why would higher gas prices cause the price of groceries to go up? Last time I checked, I didn’t see a place to pour in gas on my loaf of bread!”

I don’t know. The computer revolution gave us 20 years of growth; “green” solar technology could keep us going for another 20 before the invevitable next 10-year bubble and just in time for the successor technology (probably space exploration).

Anyone else notice that eco-bullshit was one of the most popular knee-jerk reactions to the economic crisis?

“Green technology” shines out of the business pages as what appears to be a stock market bubble inflates. Who knows… it might turn out to be the best thing the left ever did for business – temporarily, of course, but the profits will be pocketed before the whole thing crashes.

As for the eco-nuts themselves I came across a group today who greatly resembles them. They’re called the “Extropians” and they believe they’re “fighting the effects of entropy” through “a constant expansion of information” (isn’t that what the peeps that invented CDOs etc. were doing?). These guys aren’t some sort of cult either, they’re made up of people from the top of the scientific food chain and actually have some lobbying power. But they aren’t so dissimilar to the eco-nuts. They know somethings wrong – they see the effects of a failing form of social organisation – and so they distract themselves with some scientific nonsense that gives them the key to saving the world.

I’m sure the end result won’t be anything we haven’t seen before. Probably a bunch of people defaulting on their solar-payments. Someone once said “once as tragedy, a second time as farce”. Who was that again?

Ёб меня косо!

Levine, what’d you ever do to deserve Hesperia?

Then again I am actually intelligent and know things about electricity, so there’s that. This man would get much more benefit out of a capacitor bank, but woe betide the poor sap who’d have to explain capacitive and inductive reactance to him.

“Solar panels have an effective lifespan of about 20 to 25 years, and their value and wattage output decrease steadily over time.”

Solar panels operated in an area without regular rain need to be cleaned off regularly, probably with water.

There are other maintenance issues with operating a personal power plant that will cost you money. See solar msg boards for what needs repair.