There are two large Solar installs about to be built near Augusta, Ga.
Peak output should be 76 Megawatts for one and 100MW for the other.
The panel footprint is 5 acres per Megawatt.
The investors (not the utility) receive a 30 percent Federal subsidy IF it is online by the end of 2016. It costs right at 2 million $ per megawatt so the 100 Megawatt farm would be about $200 million with a $60 million subsidy.
One coal fired steam turbine unit at a local plant is 600 megawatt, with 4 units running nonstop that the EPA wants nothing more than to shut down. Makes me wonder how the output of a solar farm justifies the cost.
Solar Energy has some great potential, but unless something changes drastically it can not compete with cheap and plentiful coal. And that cheap and plentiful coal can be used in UPGRADED high cost environmentally friendly and efficient plants still cheaper than solar.
IMO solar energy at this point in history is just a way for people to feel good about energy even though it costs much more to produce.
If we want to look into solar energy, lets put it in the desert, or on roof tops and not destroy land that could be used for something else.
Not to mention the 880 acres of land just for the solar farm, not counting all the support equipment, that will be useless for anything else. Sounds like another pork project paid for by us…
oh yeah - and the fact that it’s avaiable about 16% of the time in our area versus a powerplant that can operate 24/7 with down time for maintenance, it’s crazy
oh yeah - and the fact that it’s avaiable about 16% of the time in our area versus a powerplant that can operate 24/7 with down time for maintenance, it’s crazy
Pioneer 197SF
It’s not crazy.
It’s stupid.
“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad
Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 19 year old (boy of leisure)
1 - 1 year old (fishing maniac)
1 - wife (The Warden)