Residential Solar isn’t the Enemy of Electric Utilities

Utilities shouldn't fight distributed solar, they should own it

Electric utilities are in big trouble. Investment analysts and industry executives are both using terms like "utility death spiral" and "failing utility business model" to describe how energy generated by residential solar units is threatening the future existence of grid-based electrical service.

Utilities are fighting back. They're trying to eliminate government incentives that currently make installing residential solar units more affordable. It's a very dumb and short-sighted response.
When a combination of technology and consumer preferences made cell phones another way to get in touch, major landline-owning telephone companies didn't fight the trend. They got into the cell phone business. Today, when solar cell technology is developing so rapidly, its costs dropping so dramatically, and consumer affection for solar so obvious, electric utilities should go the same route. Not fight a solar future. Take steps to get a big piece of that future.



Properly viewed, residential solar isn't a dangerous competitor of electric utilities. It's a natural adjunct to their present electricity supply operations. Getting involved here guarantees that no matter the mix of electrical generation in years to come, centrally produced or residential sourced (i.e. distributed), utilities will profit.

Changing the utility business model from totally grid-based to a grid and distributed solar-based model is the obvious solution to the industry's present market challenges. Indeed, it's really the only long-term solution.
How might an electric utility get into the residential solar business? There's no one answer to this question. No template at present to follow. But actually manufacturing and installing solar units would certainly not be required. Rather, deals of one sort or another would likely be cut with companies already in the field.
The advantages an electric utility would enjoy in any such arrangement are considerable. It already has direct and long-standing contacts with all potential solar customers via the electric service it currently provides. It can fund its residential solar involvement at very advantageous terms because it is able to borrow at near zero interest rates. It can take a long-term view on realizing profits, unlike many companies that must perform better every quarter.

Environmentalists should also cheer a move by utilities into the residential solar market. Utilities have the financial and marketing clout to hasten greatly acceptance and implementation of solar. And there's the political factor as well. It's far better to have a very powerful ally with well-established political contacts backing distributed solar power for the sake of its own profits, than a very powerful enemy fighting solar at every turn.

While utilities and environmentalists would both benefit from the former's move into residential solar, there would be one big loser here. The fossil fuel industry. The more solar that generates electricity in homes, the less utilities will have to spend burning fossil fuels to feed their grids.
Residential solar isn't the enemy of electric utilities. Acting in short-sighed ways that only benefit fossil fuel suppliers is the real threat to future utility profits.

Source: Renew Economy

Rail Expo 2013, Windmills, and a Solar Powered Train Station

Today, I went with the kids to Rail Expo 2013, one of the biggest European exhibition about models trains

Beautiful sets ...


Very realistic




Several sets had rotating windmills ... reflecting country side new landscape ...




Back home, at night, I realized that the station I built years ago, on which I added a Solar Panel, Batteries, and LED lighting, did not work anymore ...

Underneath is the battery pack, wires, ON/OFF switch and 2 LEDs bulbs, one for the inside, one for the passengers waiting on the platform outside


This is the LED pocket flashlight used from Nature & Decouvertes

Seven of eight years ago, after building this station model, I added solar on the roof for lighting using a LED flashing light components; I guess this was my very first solar experience:-)

I will probably have to replace these batteries ...

LiFePO4 DIY ESS - New : ESC for fine GTI input Power Tuning

Good News : My LiFePO4 DIY ESS is now even more precise !

Saturday, I received my last order: an RC ESC : Electronic Speed Controller for Radio Controlled models

I had this idea from the beginning of my project and wanted to use one of those to deliver the exact amount of power to the DC - input- side of a big -several thousands of Watts - Grid Tie Inverter ; But I gave up the idea because this contoller would have to be able to deal with pretty big current : 100A or more and a big GTI is pricy too, and running it at low power could cause it to be very inefficient ...

But lately this idea came back to me, and this time, I thought: Why not use an ESC on one of the GTIs only, this way this GTI's output would vary from 0W to 220W instead being 0W -OFF- or 220W -ON-, and the ESC would have to deal with only 10A of DC current from the battery pack to the GTI's input (220W / 25V = 8.8V)

So I started to look into a good quality Electronic Speed Controller and found this one right away after reading about it on a RC boat forum in France, somebody was looking for a 24V "beefy" ESC and somebody advised this one right away, saying it was a quality product, that would do the job with no over heating problem ... After a little email exchange with the British maker of those I got the strongest one that can do 40A and is forward only -which is exactly what I need here -

So this is an important step stone of my DIY ESS project here and it took place yesterday, pretty much all day ...


Royal Mail package received from the UK

and here is the nice Electronize ESC

After trying to test it with a potentiometer and realizing that it would not work, and had to digg out and old RC boat and used the remote control to test the Controller

using the receiver unplugging the boat ESC, and plugging in the new ESC 

testing with a 12V AGM battery first, a voltmeter and a DC motor

I found the Neutral point using the remote trim, and reading 12.55V on the voltmeter

now pushing the lever forward or backwards the voltage climbed to 13.25 which was the battery's voltage

After this first test, I connected the ESC to a GTI and it work fine, low power output, but fine

the GTI DC side would not even light up its red LED, but pushing the lever slowly it would get to that point and then from there, the 3 green LED would start their usual flashing sequence

After this initial and positive testing part, I did some soldering to attach 8mm lugs to each wire

I am starting to get used to this now

After that came the ESS software update to take this new ESC into account and make it works on the GTI #1 and along with the rest of the components; After that I uploaded it to the Arduino board and left the computer plugged in to monitor the log ouput by the arduino board while the software is running

The "battery side" - input - of the ESC is now connected to the other GTIs inputs of the stack and its "motor side" - output - is connected to GTI #1

The 5V power and signal command wires are connected to a PWM pin of the Arduino board, increasing or reducing the signal's "intensity" to make the ESC deliver more or less current to the GTI #1 

Close up on the hardware connections

Close up on the ESC

This was the first test of the ESS with this new setup, and it worked fine right away !! :-)

Here is a the first test video of this new setup



After a little time at the park for the kids and soem more forced charging to refill the battery pack, it was time  to celebrate, Jack Rickard's style, with a good bottle of vintage whisky



During the evening, watching a movie, I was keeping an eye on the Net Usage displayed by Wattson and these are shots attesting that we were all the time close to 0W - or not far by few Watts -

Update April 30th 2013:

Last night I did some more testing and modifications in the software - ESC output adjustments - and from 10PM to 12PM the ESS delivered power much closer to the house usage than the two hours before, as you can see on the power graph below

Nissan Gives Leaf Owners a Preview of the 2013 Model

SAN FRANCISCO — Nissan will not formally announce the 2013 version of the all-electric Leaf until early this week at the Detroit auto show, but on Saturday the company offered a sneak preview to the Bay Area Nissan Leaf Owners Association.



Nissan showing a preproduction 2013 Nissan Leaf to a meeting of the Bay Area Nissan Leaf Owners Association, the largest and most active group of Leaf owners in the United States. The San Francisco group has been active in suggesting enhancements to Nissan’s small electric vehicle.

It was an apt setting for the global unveiling of improvements — better range, faster charging and a lower starting price — intended to address shortcomings of previous versions of the Leaf.

“I can point to a half-dozen things on this 2013 car that directly resulted from meetings this group had with Nissan,” said Gary Lieber, co-founder of the owners association, informally known as the BayLeafs. “They really listened to us.”

The meeting, attended by about 60 people, took place at Luscious Garage, an auto service shop specializing in hybrid and electric cars in San Francisco. (Full disclosure: I was invited to the meeting because I lease a 2011 Nissan Leaf.)

Tim Gallagher, a Nissan spokesman, said the 2013 enhancements were “simple, small changes, a nice generational move of the car.” He said the simultaneous increase in content and the lowering of the price was made possible, in part, by the shift of production for 2013 Leafs to the company’s assembly plant in Smyrna, Tenn.

When asked if the pricing reduction was significant, Mr. Gallagher replied: “I was impressed. It’s a good number.” He declined to give the exact figure before the official announcement.

The strategy for affordability is primarily based on the advent of a stripped-down S model that comes without a navigation system or a Quick Charge port, and with only a basic radio-CD player. Premium features like the Quick Charge port, previously available only on the upscale SL model, are now included in the SV version. The SV, which was the cheapest model, is now the midrange Leaf.

New features, including LED headlamps, fog lights, 17-inch alloy wheels and leather seating, will now be reserved for the SL. Additional premium upgrades to the SL include a Bose seven-speaker audio system and “around view monitor,” which puts cameras in front, in back and on the side mirrors for parking assistance.

Nissan is adding “improvements for range management,” without actually providing a bigger battery in the Leaf. The implication is that many owners will drive farther than the 80 or so miles typically possible with the 24-kilowatt-hour battery — but the company did not offer an estimate of how much farther the 2013 Leaf would go on a single charge, either in miles or on a percentage basis.

The improvements would result from a combination of an aerodynamic tweak to the front fascia, a more efficient heater and the addition of a driver-selected B-mode that increases regenerative braking. A feature long demanded by Leaf owners, a dashboard display of the battery’s state of charge on a percentage basis, will be offered in the 2013 model.

Charging times using 240-volt power will be faster in the 2013 Leaf with an upgrade to a 6.6-kilowatt onboard charger, from the 3.3-kilowatt charger on 2012 models. That means adding about 20 miles in an hour of charging, rather than about 12 miles. A full charge from empty to full will take about four hours, instead of seven hours.

The charge port area now comes with a much-needed light, not provided on earlier models, and the ability to open the port door from inside the car or by using the key fob.

The car’s driving range will be indirectly enhanced as well, because most Bay Area Nissan dealerships will soon install Quick Chargers, Mr. Gallagher said. The Quick Charger, capable of providing 50 to 60 miles of added range in about 25 minutes, will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week — at no cost to Leaf owners.

“I’m confident that in the next 60 days we’ll have a lot of Quick Chargers in the ground,” Mr. Gallagher said. “It’ll be great coverage across the state.”



Source: The New York Times

Mia Electric and its Mia & Mia Paris : already 1000 sold in Europe ... !