It's not so easy being green

[Robert Faygo]

It's not that easy bein' green
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves
When I think it could be nicer bein' red or yellow or gold

CNN: Frozen wind turbines contribute to rolling power blackouts across Texas

Nothing says green technology rocks like using fossil fuel powered helicopters to spray fossil fuel based chemicals on frozen wind turbines

The cold, hard truth about ice on turbine blades

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

This is why I don't support the abandonment of natural gas and oil. Though there are certainly a lot of benefits with turbines and alternative sources of power, there is something to be said for a gradual phase in.

It is difficult to to blame the bulk of this on wind turbines though. This is absolutely unprecedented for areas like Houston and Austin. What we are seeing is the impacts of climate change. For the jet stream to dip this far south is almost inconceivable, especially for 4-5 days as it is.

Oh, and so much for CNN being a liberal propaganda medium.....

[Robert Faygo]

Amen!

There undoubtedly still would have been major power issues with an event of this magnitude.

While we need to keep pushing renewable energy forward, it has to be done so that we don't compromise lives. Unfortunately, I fear this cold snap is going to result in the deaths of way too many because they won't be able to stay warm.

This is going to be a big test for the new administration.

[bmw]

I'm all for renewable energy. And I do think that some day in the moderately distant future, well over 90 percent of the world's energy consumption will come from the combination of solar, wind, nuclear (ok, not exactly renewable), hydro, and geothermal. However, that day is NOT today and the more the government tries to force things faster than innovation is taking place, the more we will have problems like this.

[Rate This]

I'm all for renewable energy. And I do think that some day in the moderately distant future, well over 90 percent of the world's energy consumption will come from the combination of solar, wind, nuclear (ok, not exactly renewable), hydro, and geothermal. However, that day is NOT today and the more the government tries to force things faster than innovation is taking place, the more we will have problems like this.

Battery storage (and whatever other kinds of storage) while those turbines spin 24/7 in these temperatures should be a must. Did any of the turbines actually stop working or blades stop spinning due to the cold or are these windmills that simply were inactive and froze in place?

[matt1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYptr7S ... ison-Topic

[km1125]

Wonder what 1/4" of snow does to all the solar cells out there? What's the output of the big DTE solar fields in Ann Arbor the last week or so?

[TC Talks]

Solar panels are good to -40C/F If they are using lipo battery storage, I hope with have a newer BMS with cold charge logic.

[Ben Zonia]

It might be time to reevaluate "The Green New Deal". Just imagine how much land would be required, as evidenced by the vast fields of Solar Panels and Windmills. Look at the VFR Aeronautical Chart and you'll see the areas they already take up, for just a small fraction of energy production. And the Windmills are already a hazard to air flight. If you ever take an airplane flight again on a clear day, sit in the window seat and you'll see first hand the land taken up my windmills. The No Nukes Movement, and disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima, related to first and second generation plants with relatively few safeguards and fail safe designs, have been illogically extended to new safe versions. They have put a potentially viable alternative to oil and gas on hold. Keep in mind that nearly all of the early generation of Nuclear Power Plants, including Big Rock Point, have been removed. The remaining ones have been redesigned with more safeguards and fail safe designs.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/historic- ... d-turbines

[Rate This]

It might be time to reevaluate "The Green New Deal". Just imagine how much land would be required, as evidenced by the vast fields of Solar Panels and Windmills. Look at the VFR Aeronautical Chart and you'll see the areas they already take up, for just a small fraction of energy production. And the Windmills are already a hazard to air flight. If you ever take an airplane flight again on a clear day, sit in the window seat and you'll see first hand the land taken up my windmills. The No Nukes Movement, and disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima, related to first and second generation plants with relatively few safeguards and fail safe designs, have been illogically extended to new safe versions. They have put a potentially viable alternative to oil and gas on hold. Keep in mind that nearly all of the early generation of Nuclear Power Plants, including Big Rock Point, have been removed. The remaining ones have been redesigned with more safeguards and fail safe designs.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/historic- ... d-turbines

Most windmills take up a tiny amount of space in farm fields and the farmer simply plows around it. If you’re flying a plane that low I think you should reevaluate your piloting skills.

[km1125]

Solar panels are good to -40C/F If they are using lipo battery storage, I hope with have a newer BMS with cold charge logic.

That wasn't the question. Yes, solar panels are even actually more efficient as they get colder, but what does efficiency mean when they are putting out NO meaningful output when they have even 1/4" of snow on the panels?

Also, LiPo batteries DO NOT like the cold. None of the Lithium variants do. Their output capability drops greatly especially when you drop below 10F. To get more output you have to heat them up somehow, either by using some kind of fossil fuel or by burning up some of your battery capacity, which drop efficiency to very low numbers.

[Bryce]

So that's what those things I see driving to Mt. Pleasant are. Windmills. Here all this time I thought they were fans that were installed to combat global warming...

[Rate This]

Solar panels are good to -40C/F If they are using lipo battery storage, I hope with have a newer BMS with cold charge logic.

That wasn't the question. Yes, solar panels are even actually more efficient as they get colder, but what does efficiency mean when they are putting out NO meaningful output when they have even 1/4" of snow on the panels?

Also, LiPo batteries DO NOT like the cold. None of the Lithium variants do. Their output capability drops greatly especially when you drop below 10F. To get more output you have to heat them up somehow, either by using some kind of fossil fuel or by burning up some of your battery capacity, which drop efficiency to very low numbers.

How about diverting a small amount of the energy harnessed to melting the snow and heating the batteries?

[km1125]

Solar panels are good to -40C/F If they are using lipo battery storage, I hope with have a newer BMS with cold charge logic.

That wasn't the question. Yes, solar panels are even actually more efficient as they get colder, but what does efficiency mean when they are putting out NO meaningful output when they have even 1/4" of snow on the panels?

Also, LiPo batteries DO NOT like the cold. None of the Lithium variants do. Their output capability drops greatly especially when you drop below 10F. To get more output you have to heat them up somehow, either by using some kind of fossil fuel or by burning up some of your battery capacity, which drop efficiency to very low numbers.

How about diverting a small amount of the energy harnessed to melting the snow and heating the batteries?

That's why I included the statement "or by burning up some of your battery capacity, which drop efficiency to very low numbers."

[Rate This]

Solar panels are good to -40C/F If they are using lipo battery storage, I hope with have a newer BMS with cold charge logic.

That wasn't the question. Yes, solar panels are even actually more efficient as they get colder, but what does efficiency mean when they are putting out NO meaningful output when they have even 1/4" of snow on the panels?

Also, LiPo batteries DO NOT like the cold. None of the Lithium variants do. Their output capability drops greatly especially when you drop below 10F. To get more output you have to heat them up somehow, either by using some kind of fossil fuel or by burning up some of your battery capacity, which drop efficiency to very low numbers.

How about diverting a small amount of the energy harnessed to melting the snow and heating the batteries?

That's why I included the statement "or by burning up some of your battery capacity, which drop efficiency to very low numbers."

It can’t use THAT much power... running flashing lights 24/7 can be done with solar.