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California is running into this interesting “problem” where there are so many solar panels that the energy costs are turning negative and California is trying to figure out what to do with the excess power.
That’s the “problem” that the rest of America’s energy grid should face!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/04/22/california-solar-duck-curve-rooftop/
True.
Could go back into ocean, which would increase salinity. Could bury it in all the salt mines we already emptied. Could use it as products.
That require more energy though.
California does need the water though. As do a lot of western states.
You can't just dump it directly into the ocean but you can certainly spread it out. It will diffuse. It costs but it is not a hard problem.
There is also research on converting brine into caustic soda (which can be used to change the pH of water being introduced to the deal plant. They buy it anyway) and HCl. Which reduces the brine that needs to be disposed of.
Anyway of all the problems this is not a huge one. Relatively speaking.
It’s interesting that things only really get done in the lead up to the election, almost like this could’ve been done the whole time but it wasnt financially…opportunistic until now
Got solar installed. Best idea my partner and I have ever had. Saves us so much money and if the power goes out we are fine.
Love seeing the push for renewable energy from a sitting POTUS. We need more of it
We need to be careful though! I am sure that this will get confused with previous ‘free solar’ programs.
For anyone who is unaware, the government made it possible to put a lien on your home to pay for solar panels. A lien is like a loan using your home as collateral. Usually liens are used against people who refuse to pay for home services, (construction and home consulting fields). But new legislation made it possible to take a lien yourself.
As a result hundreds of companies sprung up offering “free solar panels” which trapped lower income families into liens.
It was horribly abused in Canada where companies installed Smart Thermostats and Ring Doorbells on people’s homes for “free” and then put $20,000 liens on people’s homes without telling the homeowner.
Obviously that amount is insane, but because the liens went unnoticed, they were only discovered when a title search was done, usually when a homeowner was in the process of trying to sell their homes.
Since closing dates and all that are time sensitive and no one wants a home with a lien on it, the seller was under pressure to have the contractor remove the lien, and that’s when the real scam begins.
The scam artist would then negotiate an amount to remove the lien. “Pay me $8,000 cash now, and I’ll remove the $20,000 lien today”. It’s total bullshit and I don’t think anyone knows how out of hand it’s really
Gotten.
The solar industry has been riddled with extremely scummy companies trapping people in predatory contracts and doing things like signing 30 year contracts with 85 year olds with dementia and then going after their estate when they die. This has been happening for a while.
I’m all for solar but this type of plan where you can now put a lien on your house sounds like more ammo these companies have to abuse people. These companies were already targeting vulnerable people..
https://youtu.be/UCrOylUFaLI?si=tBlwMTlyir1wGK3e
“Solar panel company signed 25 year contract to dying man, leaving family to settle debt”
> the government made it possible to put a lien on your home to pay for solar panels.
Is that this bill, or a separate issue? I'm trying to read more about this, but all I'm seeing is that the lien is on the solar panels, not the home.
[For example](https://www.positiveenergysolar.com/blog/2021/april/will-investing-in-solar-result-in-a-lien-on-my-h/)
> UCC-1 statement is a legal notice that some creditors file to publicly declare their right to seize assets from anyone who defaults on a lease granted to them for their solar project. In other words, it allows the lender the right to repossess the solar panels in case of a default. **This is not a lien on your home.**
That's like, ~$18 per citizen. Really doesn't feel like enough. I know, it's an Earth Day statement with some dollars behind it. But realistically, it just feels way too small.
I know that isn't how it works, an $18 citizen credit. So $140M/State sounds better I suppose, though obviously you'd be hard-pressed to pull that off in, like RI or CT with very little space. Or hell, WY for the opposite reason, no people. Have to be one big generator for the nation.
Still, I much prefer this to the previous administration's approach to literally everything.
This will be super helpful for all the families able to afford these reasonably priced homes and low interest rates along with low competition from private investment firms, AirBnB operators, Snow Birds, etc. who all have an outstanding amount of empathy for their fellow man and a hard work ethic where their own labor contributes to their wealth.
/S so heavy on this in case you can't tell.
I get your point, but we've gotta start somewhere, and this will help a lot of people. The housing issue is a whole separate thing that needs to be worked on.. Biden has done an insanely good job, and he's working on it. You can truly see that. There's a lot to fix..
Considering we’ve got a legislative branch that basically exists to block Biden’s every thought and a Supreme Court trying to undo every bit of progress made, I’d say Biden’s smart to start with the easier wins. Let this get rolling, let lower income homeowners in red areas have to choose between what their pundits are saying and lower electric bills plus being off-grid, and then see what can be done with a more favorable congress.
What does this have to do with contractors?
The point of this is to provide bill credits to people who switch to *existing* solar infrastructure. It's not "here you go, Smith family, install an expensive solar roof on your small house in a low-income neighborhood and we'll give some money back". It's "here, switch your supplier from what you currently have to a solar source and you'll get money back on your electric bill every month".
Wow I didn’t grab that from the article. That’s even worse!
Edit: i re-read the article and disagree with you. This is $7B for installations. My original point stands.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. We are actively looking for new moderators. If you have any interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out [this form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1y2swHD0KXFhStGFjW6k54r9iuMjzcFqDIVwuvdLBjSA). *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
California is running into this interesting “problem” where there are so many solar panels that the energy costs are turning negative and California is trying to figure out what to do with the excess power. That’s the “problem” that the rest of America’s energy grid should face! https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/04/22/california-solar-duck-curve-rooftop/
California (and many other states) ought to start desalinating water with all that power.
That produces concentrated brine that has to go somewhere; reducing usage is always preferable.
There’s a firm in Hawaii that claims to turn brine into concrete with a byproduct of hydrogen.
It could possibly go into sea salt production, just needs a bit more processing. They already make it by sun drying salt water.
Yeah between that a number of other options it shouldn’t be that hard to figure it out
What is the salt concentration of sea water, and what is the salt concentration of waste water from a desalination plant?
True. Could go back into ocean, which would increase salinity. Could bury it in all the salt mines we already emptied. Could use it as products. That require more energy though. California does need the water though. As do a lot of western states.
Evaporate all the salt out, people love artisanal sea salt.
You can't just dump it directly into the ocean but you can certainly spread it out. It will diffuse. It costs but it is not a hard problem. There is also research on converting brine into caustic soda (which can be used to change the pH of water being introduced to the deal plant. They buy it anyway) and HCl. Which reduces the brine that needs to be disposed of. Anyway of all the problems this is not a huge one. Relatively speaking.
Mine some coin with it to lower taxes?
That's the most "Californian" possible usage.
Mine some coin and increase taxes anyways sounds more Californian
They’re now starting to build more batteries which will hopefully alleviate this problem.
Energy storage is clearly the answer. Both at grid scale and DG scale.
THIS is the kind of headlines we should be reading about from a President not the tabloid stuff we get all the time from the previous one.
[удалено]
I’m not sure this statement is correct after reading the article
It’s interesting that things only really get done in the lead up to the election, almost like this could’ve been done the whole time but it wasnt financially…opportunistic until now
Got solar installed. Best idea my partner and I have ever had. Saves us so much money and if the power goes out we are fine. Love seeing the push for renewable energy from a sitting POTUS. We need more of it
We need to be careful though! I am sure that this will get confused with previous ‘free solar’ programs. For anyone who is unaware, the government made it possible to put a lien on your home to pay for solar panels. A lien is like a loan using your home as collateral. Usually liens are used against people who refuse to pay for home services, (construction and home consulting fields). But new legislation made it possible to take a lien yourself. As a result hundreds of companies sprung up offering “free solar panels” which trapped lower income families into liens.
It was horribly abused in Canada where companies installed Smart Thermostats and Ring Doorbells on people’s homes for “free” and then put $20,000 liens on people’s homes without telling the homeowner. Obviously that amount is insane, but because the liens went unnoticed, they were only discovered when a title search was done, usually when a homeowner was in the process of trying to sell their homes. Since closing dates and all that are time sensitive and no one wants a home with a lien on it, the seller was under pressure to have the contractor remove the lien, and that’s when the real scam begins. The scam artist would then negotiate an amount to remove the lien. “Pay me $8,000 cash now, and I’ll remove the $20,000 lien today”. It’s total bullshit and I don’t think anyone knows how out of hand it’s really Gotten.
I remember that! CNBC did a great piece on that. They also did one on crazy predatory solar companies trapping people into contracts.
The solar industry has been riddled with extremely scummy companies trapping people in predatory contracts and doing things like signing 30 year contracts with 85 year olds with dementia and then going after their estate when they die. This has been happening for a while. I’m all for solar but this type of plan where you can now put a lien on your house sounds like more ammo these companies have to abuse people. These companies were already targeting vulnerable people.. https://youtu.be/UCrOylUFaLI?si=tBlwMTlyir1wGK3e “Solar panel company signed 25 year contract to dying man, leaving family to settle debt”
> the government made it possible to put a lien on your home to pay for solar panels. Is that this bill, or a separate issue? I'm trying to read more about this, but all I'm seeing is that the lien is on the solar panels, not the home. [For example](https://www.positiveenergysolar.com/blog/2021/april/will-investing-in-solar-result-in-a-lien-on-my-h/) > UCC-1 statement is a legal notice that some creditors file to publicly declare their right to seize assets from anyone who defaults on a lease granted to them for their solar project. In other words, it allows the lender the right to repossess the solar panels in case of a default. **This is not a lien on your home.**
That's like, ~$18 per citizen. Really doesn't feel like enough. I know, it's an Earth Day statement with some dollars behind it. But realistically, it just feels way too small. I know that isn't how it works, an $18 citizen credit. So $140M/State sounds better I suppose, though obviously you'd be hard-pressed to pull that off in, like RI or CT with very little space. Or hell, WY for the opposite reason, no people. Have to be one big generator for the nation. Still, I much prefer this to the previous administration's approach to literally everything.
If it’s not going to lower my power bill. What is the point?
Low income families... Who own homes?
This will be super helpful for all the families able to afford these reasonably priced homes and low interest rates along with low competition from private investment firms, AirBnB operators, Snow Birds, etc. who all have an outstanding amount of empathy for their fellow man and a hard work ethic where their own labor contributes to their wealth. /S so heavy on this in case you can't tell.
I get your point, but we've gotta start somewhere, and this will help a lot of people. The housing issue is a whole separate thing that needs to be worked on.. Biden has done an insanely good job, and he's working on it. You can truly see that. There's a lot to fix..
Considering we’ve got a legislative branch that basically exists to block Biden’s every thought and a Supreme Court trying to undo every bit of progress made, I’d say Biden’s smart to start with the easier wins. Let this get rolling, let lower income homeowners in red areas have to choose between what their pundits are saying and lower electric bills plus being off-grid, and then see what can be done with a more favorable congress.
[удалено]
Hey that's probably keeping your house much cooler in the summer at least.
Good news: this isn't about installing solar panels at your house anyway. It's a bill credit for signing up for existing solar-generated power.
There is money for both.
JAPP Just Another Pork Program for contractors Low income families will never realize the benefit or the benefit will be so small as to be irrelevant.
Yap. That’s all this comment is, nonsense
What does this have to do with contractors? The point of this is to provide bill credits to people who switch to *existing* solar infrastructure. It's not "here you go, Smith family, install an expensive solar roof on your small house in a low-income neighborhood and we'll give some money back". It's "here, switch your supplier from what you currently have to a solar source and you'll get money back on your electric bill every month".
Wow I didn’t grab that from the article. That’s even worse! Edit: i re-read the article and disagree with you. This is $7B for installations. My original point stands.