Wonder how much solar panels on your home would cost and how much power
they’d produce? An easy answer will soon be at hand at Lowe’s home
improvement stores in eight U.S. states.
Beginning this summer in California, select Lowe’s stores will have
kiosks provided by residential solar company Sungevity. These booths
will feature the company’s iQuote system, which uses aerial and satellite
imaging to give shoppers a firm installation estimate within 24 hours. The
California-based company offers solar leases, which include monitoring,
repairs, and a money-back guarantee.
Although it’s one of the only forms of energy to offer a 100 percent
return on investment, solar energy has only been adopted by about 1
percent of the U.S. population. A recent solar energy industry report
indicated that cost and complexity were two of the biggest reasons why
people are slow to invest in solar technology.
Solar Mosaic brings the popular crowdfunding technique to the clean
tech industry by developing a way for communities to create their own
renewable energy without going into debt.
I don’t get the complexity part, since certified installers do that for you.
But up front cost is the hurdle pretty much everybody local mentions
as to why they haven’t installed solar yet.
As I’ve mentioned before,
Solar Mosaic is one answer to that.
It’s one way of implementing what Alden Hathaway says about
solar power is the people’s power.
Here’s what I said to the VLCIA board on 17 May 2011.
Notes are appended after
the video:
Expand the array, publish the minutes, private prison is a bad idea —John S. Quarterman @ VLCIA 17 May 2011
Regular Meeting, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Norman Bennett, Roy Copeland, Tom Call, Mary Gooding, Jerry Jennett chairman,
J. Stephen Gupton attorney, Allan Ricketts Acting Executive Director,
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 17 May 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
Whether you’re talking about grid tied power here in America tied to the wire,
or solar in the rural countryside of Uganda,
it’s immediately available and accessible in all sizes.
So I can use it to power a cell phone, charge a laptop,
put light in a school, or pump water in a hospital.
Solar is immediately available to do that, without massive
which is a barrier to development in much of the developing world.
And to development in south Georgia, for that matter.
So we can
leapfrog that barrier with solar.
Solar power is the peoples power –Alden Hathaway
Commissioning Ceremony,
Wiregrass Solar, Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 12 May 2011.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.
This Georgia Tech announcement emphasizes how quickly technology is
changing toward healthier energy production and away from coal. I would
hate to see our South Georgia stuck with a contaminating, health-harming
coal plant for 50 years while so much progress would be going on during
that time.
Valdosta and Lowndes County are not the only places with sunshine
in south Georgia, and Albany and Dougherty County are perhaps
already more organized.
MAGE SOLAR, looking for both customers and installers, is hosting a
program at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Albany Civic Center.
Susanne Fischer Quinn, communications manager for MAGE SOLAR, said there
are just 13 certified installers of solar panels in Georgia.
The opportunity for growth in this area is tremendous, she said.
Tuesday’s program will open with remarks by Jeff Sinyard, chairman
of the Dougherty County Commission, and Albany City Commissioner Roger
Marietta
Then, a panel of representatives from MAGE, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the University of Georgia will present information about
solar power in Georgia.
We already did a smaller version of this, but what have we done since?
Continue reading →
The Valdosta-Lowndes Chamber is positioning Metro Valdosta as Opportunity
Central with opportunities for business to grow and thrive, career
opportunities for well-educated young professionals and opportunities
for cultural interests and active lifestyles.
Great article John. Thanks for turning me onto the research presented
here, I’ll be looking into and using it. I’d also suggest a book called
“Breakthrough: from the death of environmentalism to the politics of
possibility”. I think you will love it.
Beyond changing the messaging on signs, which I think is a great idea,
I think what the research reflects is a fundamental change in the approach
to the work.
A key to community organizing work, as opposed to activism,
Alden Hathaway also talked about how solar helps load distribution
on the electric
grid, lowering electric rates for everybody.
He remarked that once power companies realized that, they’d be for solar.
More on that later.
Two years ago, Southern Co. claimed “Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are not really an option for us in the Southeast.”
