26 replies to this topic

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Producing 22 gigawatts-powering almost 50% of their midday needs.
Their solar power is equivalent to 20 nuke plants.
Source

[dissn_it]

That is just awesome. I wish more countries would work towards doing this. After what happened at Fukushima, Germany made a committment to end their use of nuclear power. It hasn't taken them very long to reach this milestone. Perhaps they will be able to show the rest of the world that it can be done and it can be accomplished quickly, too.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

dissn_it, on 02 June 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

That is just awesome. I wish more countries would work towards doing this. After what happened at Fukushima, Germany made a committment to end their use of nuclear power. It hasn't taken them very long to reach this milestone. Perhaps they will be able to show the rest of the world that it can be done and it can be accomplished quickly, too.

Having a women in charge helps too!

[FamilyTreeClimber]

That is great!  I heard on the news sometime at the beginning of the year that Germany had installed more solar units in December than the United States did all year.  Talk about making a commitment.

This reiterates that a country can accomplish anything when everyone is working towards the same goal.  I wish we could get this kind of focus in the US.

[dissn_it]

FamilyTreeClimber, on 02 June 2012 - 10:51 PM, said:

I wish we could get this kind of focus in the US.

Shortpoet-GTD, on 02 June 2012 - 03:14 PM, said:

Having a women in charge helps too!

LOL, maybe we just need to put a woman in charge of this country!

[Shortpoet-GTD]

dissn_it, on 03 June 2012 - 07:01 AM, said:

LOL, maybe we just need to put a woman in charge of this country!

As soon as Obama's term runs out in 16, we'll elect Michelle.
If the bush's can have family in the WH, why not the Obama's?

[Phil]

Bush installed 10KW of solar on the white house in 2003, he used the same inverter company I used, SMA.

Meanwhile Obama just slapped China with a 30% import tariff on solar panels.

[artistry]

Amazing, they realize the benefit. Perhaps more countries will get on board the solar train. Congrats to the smart German people.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Phil, on 06 June 2012 - 01:53 PM, said:

Bush installed 10KW of solar on the white house in 2003, he used the same inverter company I used, SMA.

Meanwhile Obama just slapped China with a 30% import tariff on solar panels.

You must realize that Obama is trying to get the American made solar panel companies to make more-
hire more people?
I'm pro solar for sure, but I'm more pro American than I am pro China..

[zararina]

That was great!
They made a good example that nuclear power can be replaced by greener or much safer options. And they will not think that only nuclear power can help us have the energy source than we need. I am pro solar too.

[Phil]

As said elsewhere, the number of jobs are miniscule, meanwhile he is putting a huge dent it solar power installations.  It isn't just China either, the supplier I used is now going to Taiwan, S Korea, etc.  and will lower the price even more.  He's selling grade A for 99 cents/watt and grade B, (full performance/cosmetic flaws only), for 69 cents a watt and is promising to go even lower.

The free market will always win.  Unless you want to be completely isolationist, (really bad idea), capitalism finds a way.  Again, adopt the Apple, Dell, etc. model, innovate here, produce over there.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Scotland is nipping at their heels.
(Although the article speaks to renewables in general, not solar specifically) they are making great progress-
growing by almost 50%!
Here.

[Phil]

Supposedly we will be #4 in the world in solar electric capacity this year with capacity doubling year over year.  Ours is one of the few markets to show sustained growth into the future.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Phil, on 02 July 2012 - 12:27 PM, said:

Supposedly we will be #4 in the world in solar electric capacity this year with capacity doubling year over year.  Ours is one of the few markets to show sustained growth into the future.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Tons of charts and graphs on the solar installation in Germany (study is up to 2011) and the 4-5x's the
capacity compared to the US.
http://cleantechnica...-updated-study/

[eds]

Germany: Decline of fossil fuel generation is irreversible!

German energy giant RWE has taken a massive loss of €2.8 billion,
. . . spent much of the past decade fighting against the country’s energy transition,
. . . it's dumping nuclear energy and transforming to renewables.

“This trend will continue in the next few years and it is irreversible.”

2014-03-04 Source: Germany

Attached Files

•  Economy-VS-Emission.png   47.96K   0 downloads

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Could it be that Merkel has a bigger brain   (being a woman) and thinks about the future?

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5430

Naysayers and industry is fighting Merkel on her policies.
http://www.reuters.c...N0LV31I20140226

[conor]

That is just amazing. I wish more nations would perform towards doing this.

[eds]

China is doing it also.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Bursting bubbles; sorry guys.

"Between 2011 and 2015 Germany will open 10.7 GW of new coal fired power stations.  The expected
annual electricity production of these power stations will far exceed that of existing solar panels."

They're going for cheap short run and not considering the expensive long run; air pollution, health issues, etc.

http://theenergycoll...re-coal-burning