Taiwain (the island at right), Taiwan Strait (Public Domain)
First Solar Powered Stadium in the World: Dragon-shaped Solar Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (credit:http://imgur.com/a/duB8w )
Dragon-shaped Solar Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (credit: Peellden)
The First Solar Powered Stadium in the World: Dragon-shaped Solar Stadium in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (credit: Peellden)
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Positioned with People’s Republic of China to the West, Japan to the Northeast, and the Philippines to the South, Taiwan is the most populus non-UN state and the largest economy outside of the UN.
This beautiful island of what used to be called Formosa, is progressive in many ways. In May of 2016, Taiwan has elected its first female president, Tsai Ing-Wen, of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Soon after the election, the new government formed by the DPP announced its ambitious plans to install 20GW of solar, while phasing out nuclear. Installing 20 GW of solar would mean using land on the island or in a country where land is an expensive commodity. The new government is tackling this issue by releasing 10,000 hectares of government controlled agricultural land for utility scale PV installations and dual use systems. Its policies also enable water-based solar installations.
Early in October of this year, Taiwan’s Bureau of Energy issued its plan for Feed-in-Tariffs (FIT) in 2017.Within this plan:
the residential rooftops (1 kW to below 20 kW) would receive a FIT of NT$6.103/kWh (US$0.193/kWh)
the ground-mounted PV power plant would receive a FIT of US$0.144/kWh
the floating solar power plants would receive a FIT of US$0.156/kWh
As some of the solar companies in USA such as First Solar and Sun Power, many Taiwanese formerly dedicated solar cell producers are shifting their attentions or businesses to also include manufacturing modules and PV project developers. One can imagine that such a shift will pick up its speed as the new FIT system becomes implemented in 2017.
To better understand such a group/country of wonderfully resilient people, I will share some videos about this beautiful island, Formosa or Taiwan, below, with you:
President Barack Obama delivers remarks on energy after a tour of a Solar Panel Field at the Copper Mountain Solar 1 Facility, the largest photovoltaic plant operating in the country with nearly one million solar panels powering 17,000 homes, in Boulder City, Nevada, March 21, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
(Please click on red for more, below)
Yes, I’m well aware of what’s been happening in Nevada and can fully appreciate the frustration of solar folks out there. But I waited because I wanted to see the reaction of people from Nevada. I trust that there are sufficient number of people all over the country now who are in support of a clean environment and renewable future that there would be plenty of reactions about the recent decision of Nevada PUC (Public Utility Commission, the regulatory body that sets rules for the state’s electricity, gas, and water utilities). What I do not understand is how Nevada PUC reached the decision to cut net metering rates and increase the residential PV owner rate ($40 per month) payable to the state utility, NV Energy. Does Nevada PUC realize that such an attempt to stifle solar energy industry in the short term may actually speed up the rate of destruction of NV Energy in the long run? Or perhaps Nevada PUC simply does not understand sufficiently the overall changing landscape of energy use to propose more effective measures to adapt to the changing need.
The signs and shouts of “Don’t tax the sun!”, “Sandoval stole my sunshine!“,”Solar lives matter!” of hundreds of residents of Las Vegas were heard throughout the country! Those angry protestors outside of the Nevada’s PUC were led by celebrity actor Mark Ruffalo, who shouted, “Let’s make life uncomfortable for them, for the Governor, for the PUC. Because they’re wrong!”
Here is the response from one of the Nevada residents to Governor Brian Sandoval and the Nevada PUC about the recent Nevada Solar ruling, below:
The new fee of $40 per month won’t only apply to new solar customers, but also to the 12,000 or so people who already own solar panels. As a result of this new decision, selling solar in Nevada will no longer make economic sense for solar installer such as Solar City, cutting 550 jobs from Nevada to be relocated to more solar-friendly states during the first week of January this year. Other solar installers such as Vivint Solar have similar plans, which will translate into loss of thousands of jobs from state of Nevada if such a poor decision is not remedied or reversed. Sunrun even filed an open records request for communication betweenNV Energy employees, lobbyists, Gov. Sandoval and his staff, and current PUC Chairman Paul Thomsen. After Sunrun’s request was refused, Sunrun sued Sandoval.
I believe in order for all of us, the energy consumers as well as the power generators, to evolve during this period of transition, we all need to learn, collaborate effectively, and be willing to evolve to the next stage of human history. I believe what we need is better understanding of feed-in-tariff at Value of Solar. In order to be able to step into the next stage of the game and be fair to all parties involved and/or be able to establish stability in our grid or potential future microgrids, I’d like to offer some information and words of wisdom by those who have already put much time and energy into studying the energy generation and management issues. Please allow me to share what Karl Rabago and Toby D. Couture have concluded, below:
Much remains to be seen and learned before Nevada PUC regulators’ next hearing on February 8, 2016. I hope they will make attempt in consulting Karl Rabago and/or Toby D. Couture before the next hearing.
~have a bright and sunny day~
gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
any questions, suggestions, and concerns will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
"Let The SunShine In The Sunshine State!" Petition Campaign Image (Requesting that the Florida legislators to consider implementing Feed-In-Tariff For Solar/Renewable Energy With Incorporation of Value of Solar/Renewable Energy (credit:sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
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As a resident of Florida, I am naturally very concerned about future welfare of the state of Florida. To prevent losing portion of the state of Florida to the ocean within our life time, further development of extreme climate conditions while helping renewable energy industries to thrive in Florida, the most effective policy is to implement Feed-In-Tariff For Solar/Renewable Energy With Incorporation of Value of Solar/Renewable Energy. This policy will lead to reduction of CO2 and our utility bills, solving energy and pollution problems while creating local jobs. For better understanding of the topic of Feed-In-Tariff policy and Value of Solar, please visit and share links below. In the state of Florida, there is plentiful Sunshine that can be put into good use. Sunshine has proven to be the least harmful source of energy and will soon be the least costly source of energy as well. Incorporating Value of Solar/Renewable Energy via Feed-In-Tariff is the most fair and effective way to utilize our solar/renewable energy.
Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers,
Please click and view the video below for The Biggest People’s Climate March Ever!
(Please click on red links and note magenta)
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of NYC, other cities in USA and elsewhere in the world, on Sunday (September 21, 2014), Monday (September 22, 2014) and Tuesday (September 23, 2014), demanding world leaders to do more to take serious actions to slow the Climate Change. In NYC (New York City) alone, there were 310,000 people showing up to march for Climate Justice. So far, there is no global agreement on what to do regarding Climate Change, even though some countries have already taken actions in reducing CO2 emissions (such as Australia’s previous Carbon Tax, European nations (esp. policies by Germany, Italy, and UK), China’s, Taiwan’s, and Japan’s Feed-In-Tariff for Solar & Wind & switching from coal to natural gas, U.S. has switched from coal to natural gas and increased solar and wind installations). This largest climate march in history involves approximately 1500 organizations, but is mostly organized by AVAAZ (with membership of over 30 million people according to wikipedia) and 350.org . It has brought together great diversity of people from different social, economic, political, and religious affiliations. It is purposely designed to take place prior to the UN meeting on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, when discussion regarding future direction and finance associated with the topic of climate change will be taking place.
Here, at Sun Is The Future, we’d like to implore leaders of the world to consider implementing Feed-In-Tariff For Renewable Energy: Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) have proven to be the world’s most successful policy for delivering large quantities of renewable energy generation quickly and cheaply. It will help to develop vibrant renewable energy industries (solar-wind-water-geothermal-wave ) that will Reduce CO2 emissions, Slow Climate Change, Solve Energy Problem, Create Local Jobs, by using our abundant Sunshine and various Renewable Resources. We believe, by implementing Feed-In-Tariff For Renewable Energy, incorporating True Value of Each and Every Renewable Energy, Feed-In-Tariff For Renewable Energy will be implemented most effectively.
This is what hope looks like:
Above photo from @cynryan on Twitter
Below, is part of the email received from Jamie from 350.org
On Monday, 310,000 people took to the streets of New York City to call for climate action — the largest climate march in history.
And on Tuesday, the world’s politicians will gather in New York to talk about climate action — 125 heads of state in total. They’ll be gathering with the knowledge that more people than ever are demanding action, not just words, and that their political future is on the line — as well as the future of the planet.
We will bring that message to the top leadership of the UN inside Tuesday’s summit, with a hand-delivered message to top UN climate negotiators. If you stand with the hundreds of thousands of people who marched today around the world, tell world leaders that you mean business: act.350.org/letter/ready-for-action/
Today people from the communities where fossil fuels are dug up marched alongside people who live where they are burned. Thousands of workers, the people who stand ready to build a clean, renewable energy system, walked alongside indigenous communities that are already leading with their own climate solutions.
New Yorkers, including those whose homes were wrecked by Superstorm Sandy, marched in huge numbers, standing alongside international ambassadors from communities responding to climate disasters worldwide.
The ripples of the People’s Climate Mobilization are already spreading. A people’s summit outlining the path to a just transition away from fossil fuels starts tomorrow, along with actions targeting corporate polluters in New York.
We hope the UN leaders have heard our voices and will seriously consider implementing Feed-In-Tariff For Renewable Energy With Incorporation of True Value of Each and Every Renewable Energy throughout our planet earth.
Solar and Renewable Energy investment is no longer just a way to save our world, but also a way for us to invest with very promising future. I’d like to share the video below with you to help shed some light on Green Investment and Feed-In-Tariff. Keep in mind that this is an interview from a year ago (with Timothy Nash, President of Strategic Sustainable Investments) and that means the green investments is even closer to the mainstream now.
According to Timothy Nash’s research project under Green Transition Scoreboard, there were $2 trillion invested in Green Investments (excluding government investments) globally since 2007. These investments tend to focus on green buildings, smart grids, and various companies’ R & D. Mr. Nash feels that large companies have played a significant role in investing in innervation (i.e. IBM’s Solution For Smarter Planet, GE, green car investments by Toyota & Aldi). Some of the low hanging fruits mentioned by Mr. Nash are in areas of energy and material efficiency. An interesting observation: people are willing to work for lower wages if companies are doing positive things for our planet. Ontario’s Feed-In-Tariff is discussed: the cut in Feed-In-Tariff is viewed as being counter-productive to job creations and decreased opportunities.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your questions/comments/suggestions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
In one surprisingly bold critique, Felix Mormann has incisively slaughtered two sacred cows of US renewable energy policy in the journal Environmental Law: Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) and tax credits.
Make no mistake, the innocuous sounding title of this academic paper harbors an intellectual assault on public policy created by long-held beliefs in neoliberal ideology. Mormann certainly will not endear himself to AWEA, SEIA, SEPA and the alphabet soup of K Street lobbyists with his unambiguous call to end tax credits: “In light of the conceptual superiority of a feed-in tariff over the current tax credit regime, tax incentive support for US renewables should be phased out as the feed-in tariff goes online.”
Mormann, an associate professor of Law at the University of Miami and fellow at the Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University, isn’t content to antagonize only industry lobbyists, he takes aim at the principle policies favored by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF-US), two En-NGOs influential in US energy policy.
Using IEA deployment data, Mormann explains the superior performance of feed-in tariffs in mitigating market and investment risk relative to RPS and tax credit policies in the US. Feed-in tariffs are the clear winner. They are the superior market instrument.
Though Mormann is not the first to explore the inequality of using tax credits to subsidize renewable energy in the US, his analysis is one of the few in a law journal. He notes for example, that tax credits have created the reasonable perception that they are a “rich man’s” policies by enabling the wealthy—those with a tax liability–to enrich themselves at the taxpayer’s expense.
Mormann skewers both tendering and RPS programs that are sold to Americans—and their politicians–as more “market-oriented” than feed-in tariffs. Under closer scrutiny, however, RPS and tendering programs–because they rely on trading of renewable energy certificates—entail “considerable transaction costs,” earning them the reputation of policies designed by and for big corporations. These policies, charges Mormann, provide little opportunity for local investors to profit from renewable energy. The lack of transparency in tendering awards and in trading of renewable energy certificates further fuels suspicion that renewable energy in the US was never intended to benefit common citizens.
FITs in contrast, because of their transparency, can improve public perception of renewable energy by enabling greater participation than tendering, RPS policies, or tax credits. Mormann cites Danish and German success with feed-in tariffs at eliciting investment from community groups and local citizens to make his point. Both countries have a much higher percentage of their electricity generated by new renewables than the US.
Mormann doesn’t waffle or go soft in the knees as he reaches his conclusion with an unusually strong recommendation for an academic paper on public policy.
“It is time, indeed, that the United States make the same commitment and adopt the very policy that has propelled its competitors to become leaders in the Race to Renewables. It is time to adopt a feed-in tariff that has the ability to cost-effectively enhance the investor appeal of renewable energy in the United States.”
Now only if President Obama would call Mormann for advice on renewable energy policy–or better yet–a conference call from President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner maybe something concrete would come of Mormann’s research. . .
This feed-in tariff news update is made in cooperation with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The views expressed are those of Paul Gipe and are not necessarily those of ILSR.
Dear Friends, Readers/Viewers, Fellow Solar Enthusiasts,
(Please click on red links and note magenta below)
Sun Is The Future (www.sunisthefuture.net) is very pleased to be able to share this interview of M. Toby D. Couture with our readers/viewers. We can learn much from this astute scholar of advanced renewable energy policy. His thorough examination of feed-in tariffs and overall renewable energy policy analysis are extremely insightful. We need more analysts such as M. Couture to guide us during our earthly transition toward the Renewable Energy Future. I am particularly optimistic with the “prosumer” concept mentioned in this video. I also liked his analogy of utility companies being equivalent to banks of financial services, becoming more of an intermediary between the electricity suppliers (from wide range of sources) and end-use customers. Finally, M. Couture reminds us the importance of encouraging environment to reduce risk for future growth potential of renewables. It is not often that during a conversation/interview of this duration (about 90 minutes) that I would be impressed with every point he’s made in his analysis. From his global perspective, we’ve come to appreciate the strength, weakness, and the reason behind various policies in different parts of the world. One cannot help but arrive at a sense of hope and optimism for our renewable energy future, if sufficient finance and policy are correctly in place as the motive force. Without further ado, I give you Toby D. Couture, below:
Besides being a Fulbright Scholar (2008-2009), Toby D. Couture had also received Contemporary Achievement Award from Mount Allison University (2012), Canadian SSHRC Scholarship, Baxter & Alma Ricard Foundation Scholarship, and A.H.Johnson Philosophy Award, you will find out more about his background, below:
Among his credentials:
1. Energy Analyst of Conservation Council of NB (2006-2007)
2. Energy & Financial markets Analyst of NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) (2008-2009)
3. Founder and Director of Energy Analysis of E3 Analytics (2009-2012)
4. Director of Renewable Energy at IFOK (2012-present)
5. Founder & Director of Renewable Energy (2014)
His Educational Background:
1. BA w/Distinction, Honours in Philosophy, Env. Policy & some Economics, from Mount Allison University
2. MA w/Distinction in Energy & Environmental Policy from Universite de Moncton
3. Studies in Renewable Energy Finance, Post-Master’s in Renewable Energy from Ecole des Mines de Paris, Sophia Antipolis
4. MSc w/Merit, in Financial & Commercial Regulation from London School of Economics and Political Science
Besides being an excellent speaker, M. Couture has also demonstrated, through his publications and reports, his impressive understanding of the integration of financial, political, and regulatory landscape of renewable energy. His publications are listed below:
1. The Rise and Fall of Oil (2011)
2. Analytical Brief on FITs vs. Auctions (2010)
3. Analytical Brief on Spain’s Solar PV Boom and Bust (2011)
4. Feed-in Tariffs: Arguments and Counterarguments (2010)
5. The Lesson From Spain (2013)
Toby D. Couture now works at E3Analytics to help both private and public sector clients to navigate challenges in transitioning into an abundant, dispersed, and renewable energy resources.
To find out more about Toby Couture, his writings, and/or his ongoing projects, please visit: http://www.e3analytics.eu
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your questions/comments/suggestions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
April 9, 2014, by Craig Morris: Even when the foreign press reports on the correct numbers, a lot of the terms can still be slightly misleading. Today, we focus on a report at Reuters to help the international audience understand the issues.
April 4, 2014, by Linda Archibald: The man who initiated the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) concept says Malaysia should increase the quota for renewable energy (RE) for its own FiT programme to create enough mass to face potential roadblocks ahead.
April 4, 2014,The Strategy makes clear DECC want this market to grow over the next few years, so it will be key to change the feed-in tariff reduction triggers and the upper tariff band to enable this. We can fix the barriers, but the policy framework must allow the growth we all want to see.
April 4, 2014,The use of the fixed feed‐in systems that have so far been successful in minimizing financing costs is prohibited from January 2015 for all but small installations. This shift to a “market premium” is likely to increase financing costs and might have negative effects on the efficiency of short‐term markets and effectiveness of forward markets.
April 3, 2014, by Craig Morris: While the German government does not specifically plan to change the design of feed-in tariffs for PV this year, the application of the renewables surcharge to solar power directly consumed does change things considerably.
April 3, 2014, by John Parnel: End-market demand was said to have been driven by Japan and the UK, which combined accounted for more than one-third of demand globally as well as setting new quarterly records for PV deployed.
March 28, 2014, by Paul Gipe: In a potentially far-reaching decision, the European Commission has decided that the French system of feed-in tariffs for wind energy on land is not excluded under prohibitions against “state aid,” and is therefore permitted under European Union (EU) regulations. [more]
March 28, 2014,Three German federal states have reached a deal with German Economics and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) whereby only part of the feed-in tariff surcharge will be applied to new solar photovoltaic systems which supply electricity for the system owner’s use.
March 28, 2014, by Craig Morris: Yesterday, Brussels approved French feed-in tariffs for wind but said it would investigate industry exemptions. In related news, a draft of the latest energy policy proposals leaked earlier this month probably provides so many backdoors for feed-in tariffs as to make the policy viable going forward.
April 7, 2014, by Andrew Dewitt: Japan’s energy policy regime appears dangerously adrift in the context of accelerating climate change. The core problem is agency. On the one hand, Japanese PM Abe Shinzo and the nuclear village appear obsessed with nuclear power restarts and 20th century paradigms of the power economy.
March 31, 2014, by Craig Morris: On Friday, German power provider Eon confirmed that it will shut down a nuclear plant ahead of schedule. The premature discontinuation of lignite excavation also announced that day, however, is a governmental decision, albeit one the firm may have been about to make itself.
March 27, 2014, by Glen Estill: Natural gas in storage in the US continued its decline in the most recent update from the US Energy Information Agency. (Why doesn’t Canada publish this type of data?) The ongoing cold winter reduced the gas in storage to 896 Bcf. This compares with the 5 year average of 1822 Bcf, a reduction of 51%. Gas in storage dropped in the week ended Mar 21 by 57 Bcf. Last year in the same week gas in storage was pretty much the same as the week before.
March 26, 2014, by Bernard Chabot: But as his Figure 1 and, in particular, Figure 3 show, the boom in nuclear mainly took place in the 1970s. Growth continued in the 80s, but began stagnating at the end of the 90s, and has taken a dive since Fukushima.
March 24, 2014, by Glen Estill: Areas with periodic droughts, like California, Australia, and even the US and Canadian west (remember the dust bowl) need to preserve their rivers and aquifers, or face severe economic consequences. In Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan are especially vulnerable to drought. And these two province rely primarily on thermal electricity generation.
March 23, 2014, by Dave Toke: The Hinkley C nuclear power plant deal that gives the nuclear developers a £92.50 per MWh premium price for 35 years will give nuclear power a clear competitive advantage over solar pv in what will be a growing electricity for motor vehicles market.
March 20, 2014, by Chisaki Watanabe: Japan added 7,044 megawatts of clean energy capacity since it began an incentive program in July 2012 through the end of last year.
March 19, 2014, by Craig Morris: In any normal situation, such hard facts would simply be reported – it’s not like there’s no way to say “carbon emissions are slightly down year-over-year” in German.
March 18, 2014,A majority of respondents continue to oppose bringing idle nuclear reactors back online, despite moves by the Abe administration to allow restarts as soon as this summer, according to an Asahi Shimbun poll.
March 17, 2014, by Glen Estill: Some have forecast that the fracking boom may be close to running it’s course. The depletion rates for fracked gas are very high – that is, the well stops producing very quickly. We may not have the surpluses we think we do. But we can make huge surpluses without fracking if we choose to.
April 3, 2014, by David Suzuki: I think windmills are beautiful. They harness the wind’s power to supply us with heat and light. They provide local jobs. They help clean air and reduce climate change.
March 30, 2014, by Karl-Friedrich LenzDaniel Wetzel at WELT reports on a new nationwide anti-wind organization recently founded in Germany. The name of the new lobby group is “Vernunftkraft” (reason power). I am not linking to them, but I think that’s an interesting name.
March 24, 2014, by Ketan Joshi: Recently, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) released a comprehensive position statement on the curiously invulnerable issue of ‘wind turbine syndrome’. One phrase from the statement caught my eye, because it goes slightly further than other institutions (like the Victorian Department of Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council, or New South Wales Health), in that it mentions the impact of misinformation:
March 19, 2014, by Sarah Taylor: A proposed wind turbine installation near Camp Perry in Northwestern Ohio has recently been halted (see article) by environmental groups that turn out to have connections to the oil, gas and tourism industries.
March 17, 2014,The available Australian and international evidence does not support the view that the infrasound or low frequency sound generated by wind farms, as they are currently regulated in Australia, causes adverse health effects on populations residing in their vicinity. The infrasound and low frequency sound generated by modern wind farms in Australia is well below the level where known health effects occur, and there is no accepted physiological mechanism where sub-audible infrasound could cause heal
March 31, 2014, by Jonathan Migneault: Bob Jeffery, vice-president of the SUN Co-operative board, said the group has made an application with the Ontario Power Authority’s Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program, which offers small green-power generators a chance to sell power to the provincial grid at a guaranteed rate.
March 24, 2014, by Mark Pengilly: SB 1520, which passed the Oregon House and Senate with bipartisan support, has been signed into law by Governor Kitzhaber. The bill allows renewable energy cooperative corporations to be created and capitalized without the requirement of securities registration.
March 19, 2014, by Craig Morris: The switch from state-run water services to the private sector made the public aware of the difference between the two options, but the possibility of energy democracy is poorly understood outside Germany even among proponents of renewables. Do citizens have the right to make their own energy? Should such a right be made law explicitly?
April 7, 2014, by Mike Barnard: Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) continue to get attention, press and R&D funding. Antagonists of mainstream wind generation continually point at them as if they were a superior technology. People perpetually re-invent them and believe that they have found something new and exciting. However, they are undeserving of any significant attention, are an inferior technology and definitely aren’t new. Outside of a couple of niches, they are more of a distraction from deployment of effective utility-scale, horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) than anything else.
March 24, 2014,The world market for small wind has continued to grow: As of the end of 2012, a cumulative total of at least 806’000 small wind turbines were installed all over the world. This is an increase of 10 % compared with the previous year, when 730’000 units were registered.
This feed-in tariff news update is made in cooperation with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The views expressed are those of Paul Gipe and not necessarily of ILSR
Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers, (Please click on red links below)
Source: N.C. Solar Center at N.C. State University, Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (accessed July 2012). (Correction: Amended source corrects the source listed in original publication of February 3, 2012.) Note: The map includes West Virginia as a State with a Renewable Portfolio Standard, although the Interstate Renewable Energy Council categorizes it as a goal State rather than an RPS State.
I came across a video with Ralph Nader‘s commenting on Feed-In-Tariff, uploaded by Paul Kangas at paul8kangas, below:
In the video, Ralph Nader (the famous consumer advocate) referred to FIT(Feed-In-Tariff) as price based whereas RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) as quota based.
This led to a discussion between myself and another Renewable advocate on whether RPS will limit renewables. Folks, here is my response, below:
I don’t think RPS will limit renewables. It does, however, set the minimum mandatory goal for renewables. For example, a student who wants to at least pass all of his/her courses may end up getting a straight A. But a student who doesn’t even have a goal or desire to pass any or all of the courses is far more likely to fail one or all of his/her classes. Without any goal/RPS, that is why state of Florida is not leading in solar deployment. I’d much rather that FL has RPS than nothing. I’d much rather that FL has both RPS and FIT. But as the cost of solar continues to drop and improvement in storage technology increases, there will be more solar deployments even without any RPS or FIT.
I think before asking anything, we seriously need to find out what the true Value of Solar and/or the true Value of Wind is in order to decide what FIT rate needs to be asked. I don’t think we would want to set the FIT rate below the true Value of Solar or Wind (because then we’ll have clean energy subsidizing the dirty energy). I think Karl R. Rabago has been working on Value of Solar for quite some time and gives a very good presentation in this interview: www.sunisthefuture.net/2014/01/01 and the synopsis of the Value of Solar is in www.sunisthefuture.net/2014/01/04. I wonder if the true Value of Wind has been figured out at this point. At this point in time, there may be sufficient data and technology to enable the algorithm for Value of Wind or Value of Biofuel or Value of Geothermal to be worked out for different regions.
Finally, I am optimistic that the planet earth, as a whole, is heading in the right direction-transitioning into the Renewable Energy Age. As long as Northern Hemisphere manages to stay away from any serious global military confrontation, the planet earth will reach Renewable Energy Age, slowly but surely. Of course, I would have liked to see Florida to be at least in the top 3 or 5 of the solar deployment states within USA, given that we are number 3 in terms of population and we do have the name of Sunshine State. This is much more likely to occur if Florida implements both FIT and RPS, I believe. What do you think? This keeps me motivated in learning and posting about solar/renewable energy.
~have a bright and sunny day~
sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Written, gathered and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments/suggestions/questions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
Dear Friends, Visitors/Viewers/Readers, (Please click on red links below)
Florida Sunset (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
In light of the upcoming Florida gubernatorial election this year, I hope all candidates would consider these matters, below:
Greetings,
Please help state of Florida to:
1. Set goal for Renewable/Solar Energy, given that Florida is one of the few states left that had not yet officially set any goal for renewable/solar energy (RPS, Renewable Portfolio Standard).
3. Request state regulators to look into The Value of Solar (www.sunisthefuture.net/2014/01/01 & www.sunisthefuture.net/2014/01/04) for this is the final missing link that will enable solar to be spread fairly, effectively, and quickly, for rich and for poor alike, for consumers as well as for utility. Ultimately, this would translate into a collaborative relationship between the utility and consumers, leading to a more stable grid for all consumers while increasing the longevity of the utility.
4. Streamline the permitting process of solar PV and solar thermal so to reduce the cost and amount of time in completing the process. Residents at Broward County are now able to get a solar energy system permit online in just half an hour;please refer to Jefferey Halsey, Broward County of Florida’s Director of Pollutioin Prevention, Remediation, and Air Quality Division during the video clip at Sun Is The Future at www.sunisthefuture.net/2013/02/22 .
5. It seems feasible/optimal to introduce regulation to require solar thermal (solar hot water heating systems) when/where it is already a foregone conclusion that this would be an economically feasible approach in building design. Perhaps it is time to start the discussion in considering implementing this as part of the building code.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Written, gathered and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments/suggestions/questions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
