solar panels Archives - Michaels Energy

Jan 03

2022’s Lucky Seven Lookback

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

This post features the results of my Lucky 7 predictions I made a year ago, a grade for each omen, and a little sass here and there. Coal Record Prediction: Annual worldwide coal consumption will pass the all-time high set in 2014. Result: The Internation Energy Agency, on 16 December, reported, “Global coal use is set to rise by 1.2% in 2022, surpassing 8 billion tonnes in a single year for the first time and eclipsing the previous record set in 2013(sic)[1], according to Coal 2022, the IEA’s latest annual market report on the sector.” This is remarkable, considering “For...

Nov 07

Love4

Renewable Interconnection Chaos

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I drove across Southern Minnesota, starting in the SW where wind alley is, and therefore, hundreds, or maybe thousands of wind turbines. The following was my observation while cruising I-90. Since the turbines were not spinning, I can only assume that excessive wind forced the Midcontinent Independent System Operator to curtail several hundred megawatts of wind generation. This, for one reason, is why net zero is as worthless as a three-dollar bill[1], but also, utilities have power purchase agreements with these non-spinning resources, right? Who pays? The MISO hub prices were as follows that day....

Oct 25

Love5

Developing Nations are Going Nuclear – Will the West Follow or Fall Futher Behind?

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

Last week I provided an extensive analysis of how Chernobyl’s RBMK reactor design and the chain of reckless events led to its 1986 disaster. The study sets the stage to explain why that won’t happen with power plants in the United States. Let’s take a minute to examine why nuclear power is a good fit for our needs. Nuclear Power’s Plug into Our Grid Commercial nuclear power plants operate continuously at full power for 90-95% of the year. They require an average of three to four weeks a year for maintenance and refueling. One charge of nuclear fuel, about 3%...

Jul 12

Love2

Electrification – Damn the Torpedo

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant 2 Comments

I attended Electric Power Research Institute’s Electrification 2022 Conference in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. As a critical thinker and engineer, I often listened and thought, what about this or that, what does that look like at scale, or what you really need to do is ___. Silos of Excellence Everyone seems to think about an endpoint where the entire country will run on solar panels, windmills, heat pumps, and electric vehicles. No one talks about what must happen between here and there. The silos of excellence include: Our industry and associated tiny departments representing utilities expect a 100%...

Apr 26

Love2

Importing Illusions & Exporting Pollution

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

I had to go to my well of topics and found this interesting article from Clean Technica from last summer, A Realistic US Transport Electrification Plan - The Challenges We Can't Ignore. That is a catchy title because I am the woodchipper of grand ideas. Norway’s EV etc. Policies As Will Ferrell instructed us during last year’s Super Bowl, Norway crushes the United States in electric vehicle adoption. Clean Technica says 85% of new vehicle sales in Norway are electric and then complains about the lack of policy in the United States to support EVs. It makes a difference. For...

Feb 10

Love0

Grid Modernization Risk and Protest

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

God, it’s great to be back writing again. On that note, here is a quote, “There’s an old saying: Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.” I’ve been under a rock all my life because I had never heard that one. It’s the opening line to this NIMBYism and grid modernization article. This subject, ironically, is one of the very first ones I wrote about over ten years ago in Renewable NIMBY. According to the article coopted by Energy Central and written by ersi (what it stands for is anyone’s guess), and references the DOE,...

Sep 17

Love0

Little People Take on the Climate Industrial Complex

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant No Comments

My undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum at South Dakota State University included requirements for six credits of humanities and nine credits of social sciences. What is this? Who needs this stuff? Walk on the Slippery Rocks I actually enjoyed most of these courses, one of which was philosophy. What a flaky class. There was no work. There were no exams. The goofball professor spewed philosophy and moderated discussions of paradoxes and whatnot. One of those discussions was whether South Dakota should be America’s garbage dump, for princely fees of course. Essentially, should we trade self-induced exploitation for money so we can...

Jan 09

Love0

Things You Need to Know Re Electric Vehicles

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant 2 Comments

Last week I wrote about understanding the customer and knowing what they want, whether the customer is the utility, regulator, or the end user of energy. Taking this a step beyond, the customer/client may not know what they want. For example, a hypothetical customer may want to control all energy use in their house from a smartphone, 100% renewable energy, and a smart-grid connected electric car. I am convinced once the hoopla settles, customers will want (1) cheap, reliable energy, and (2) any help to be more successful. Three weeks ago, I wrote about Messing with Near Perfection. That post...

Mar 14

Love0

Efficiency v Renewables; Stability v Instability

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant One Comment

It’s about time I got back to my stack of research reports, and I have a good one this week to write about: Distributed Generation: Cleaner, Cheaper, Stronger, by the Pew Charitable Trusts, October 2015. First off, let’s compare brilliant efficiency versus sexy renewable supply resources. I think it may have been Bill LeBlanc of E Source who suggested instead of cash rewards for efficiency, we give customers faux solar panels to put on their roofs. People understand renewable supply while they have some combination of not understanding or trusting efficiency; nor do blower door test results make for great...

Jan 18

Love0

The Bogus Energy Internet of Things

By Jeff Ihnen Energy Rant 3 Comments

You have experienced a slow internet. Your music starts chopping. The video stops streaming. You curse the hour glass and spinning donuts. You have never experienced a substantial dip in power speed. Yes; power has a speed, and it is 60 Hertz (Hz), or 60 cycles a second. The reason I can argue it is a speed is because it is governed by spinning generation, namely steam turbines, from which we still get over half our electricity. For-Instance Bogusness #1: Frequency Modulation Your computer doesn’t melt down; servers don’t melt down; switches, hubs, routers – all that internet stuff will...

2022’s Lucky Seven Lookback

Renewable Interconnection Chaos

Developing Nations are Going Nuclear – Will the West Follow or Fall Futher Behind?

Electrification – Damn the Torpedo

Importing Illusions & Exporting Pollution

Grid Modernization Risk and Protest

Little People Take on the Climate Industrial Complex

Things You Need to Know Re Electric Vehicles

Efficiency v Renewables; Stability v Instability

The Bogus Energy Internet of Things

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