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SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

solarthermalmagazine.com

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Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#21

Post by [deleted] »

jacquesm wrote: post #18
marvin wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ironic part here is that the Nevada utilities are accelerating their own demise by opposing rooftop solar. In a few short years, batteries will be cheap and plentiful enough that it will be unnecessary to cut deals like these with the utilities in order to have a profitable solar rooftop installation. By removing the incentive for customers to cooperate with the utilities, the utility companies are further incent…

It's not that simple. A system that is not grid connected will need a lot more than just a battery to make it as reliable as a grid connection. Those 'few short years' are more likely a couple of decades, in other words well over the horizon for the people that are currently trying to squeeze the most profit from those utilities. Residential battery storage is just one component is a complex chain that needs to be de…

[deleted]

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#22

Post by Symmetry »

jacquesm wrote: post #18
marvin wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ironic part here is that the Nevada utilities are accelerating their own demise by opposing rooftop solar. In a few short years, batteries will be cheap and plentiful enough that it will be unnecessary to cut deals like these with the utilities in order to have a profitable solar rooftop installation. By removing the incentive for customers to cooperate with the utilities, the utility companies are further incent…

It's not that simple. A system that is not grid connected will need a lot more than just a battery to make it as reliable as a grid connection. Those 'few short years' are more likely a couple of decades, in other words well over the horizon for the people that are currently trying to squeeze the most profit from those utilities. Residential battery storage is just one component is a complex chain that needs to be de…

I think the idea isn't that you can go off grid but rather that you can now make use of the excess power that you would have been selling back to the grid during the night and so effectively capture the same residential rates through reduced use.

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#23

Post by [deleted] »

theandrewbailey wrote: post #20
hoorayimhelping wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why has the state legislature not immediately begun impeachment? I was under the impression that impeachment is not a "I didn't get my way, I'm going to remove you from office" card. It's not for validating the whims of the electorate because some of them think they're not being served. It's for bringing official charges to an elected official and putting them on trial. What charges can you file against the governo…

I think the best legal action is SolarCity (and others) to sue the State of Nevada over loss of business. Is that possible?

[deleted]

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#24

Post by mikeash »

jacquesm wrote: post #19
hoorayimhelping wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why has the state legislature not immediately begun impeachment? I was under the impression that impeachment is not a "I didn't get my way, I'm going to remove you from office" card. It's not for validating the whims of the electorate because some of them think they're not being served. It's for bringing official charges to an elected official and putting them on trial. What charges can you file against the governo…

I know it isn't but technically it really should be. What use is it to have someone represent you that no longer serves your interests.

I think the "we don't like what you've done" mechanism is a recall election rather than an impeachment. Of course, lots of places don't even have those.

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#25

Post by Naritai »

ansgri wrote: post #17
Animats wrote: post #13

If solar can't make it in Nevada without subsidies, the industry has a big problem. Nevada's population is mostly around Las Vegas, which is at 36° latitude and has 294 sunny days a year. It doesn't get much better than that. Utilities are still buying back power, just at wholesale rates. You can still use the power yourself and buy less at retail rates. Or you can get some of Tesla's batteries and store it for night…

Thanks, this analysis puts it all in context for a foreigner who has read the original article as 'governor has long supported solar, and then stupidly changed his mind'.

Yeah, this is a bitter, angry press release that doesn't provide much background or context. No appropriate as a news link, in my opinion - it'd be much better to link to something from an actual news source that gives some history.

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#26

Post by iamphilrae »

jacquesm wrote: post #18
marvin wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ironic part here is that the Nevada utilities are accelerating their own demise by opposing rooftop solar. In a few short years, batteries will be cheap and plentiful enough that it will be unnecessary to cut deals like these with the utilities in order to have a profitable solar rooftop installation. By removing the incentive for customers to cooperate with the utilities, the utility companies are further incent…

It's not that simple. A system that is not grid connected will need a lot more than just a battery to make it as reliable as a grid connection. Those 'few short years' are more likely a couple of decades, in other words well over the horizon for the people that are currently trying to squeeze the most profit from those utilities. Residential battery storage is just one component is a complex chain that needs to be de…

Customers could keep their grid connection for backup purposes, but it should be rarely needed. Therefore if a customer is acting 99% self-sufficient, the grid operator is going to lose out. And this could happen within years when battery tech becomes cost effective. This change in legislation has just served to shorten that timeline.

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#27

Post by exelius »

jacobolus wrote: post #6
DiabloD3 wrote: post #2

So, seeing as how the Governor of Nevada just cost thousands of citizens of his state their job, in an industry that is progressive and required for the survival of that state (and the nation as a whole), why has the state legislature not immediately begun impeachment? Politicians need to be taught that they serve at the pleasure of the people, and when they stop doing what they are told, they will no longer be emplo…

Nevada has had a Republican governor since 1999. Sandoval, the current governor, is in his second term, was reelected about year ago with 90% of the vote in the Republican primary and 70% of the vote in the general election, and currently has something like a 2/3 approval rating in state polls. His Wikipedia page currently has one section which is a long hit piece written by pro-solar flacks, but that seems likely to…

It's only political suicide if you have no political capital (aka favors that other people owe you). This is how politicians can get away with things and not get impeached or voted out of office.

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#28

Post by ebbv »

Animats wrote: post #13

If solar can't make it in Nevada without subsidies, the industry has a big problem. Nevada's population is mostly around Las Vegas, which is at 36° latitude and has 294 sunny days a year. It doesn't get much better than that. Utilities are still buying back power, just at wholesale rates. You can still use the power yourself and buy less at retail rates. Or you can get some of Tesla's batteries and store it for night…

This is a really disingenuous response. The NV Energy (all power utilities in the US) receive massive subsidies. So the playing field isn't level.

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#29

Post by kriro »

So basically excess power generated is bought back at a standard price (bulk) instead of the current retail price? As long as you're consuming all the energy you harvested nothing changes. They basically just removed a subsidy of sorts which seems to be in line with the general party policy decisions.

Re: SolarCity Will Eliminate Over 550 Job Due to State’s Anti-Rooftop Solar Decision

#30

Post by twoodfin »

ndonnellan wrote: post #9

This article seems to have a more thorough explanation: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-this-sunny-state-trying-... snip ----------------------- A little-understood billing mechanism called net metering is at the heart of the Nevada controversy. Net metering means that residential and commercial solar customers are billed for their “net” energy consumption. They are allowed to send back to the grid the electricit…

Can we change the link from the one-sided (and deliberately unclear!) press release to this article or a similar one?
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