Monday, October 26, 2020

On the VERGE of Sustainability

 VERGE 20 is on this week (starting October 26 2020). GreenBiz sponsor and coordinate this massive event. Anybody and any company that's got anything to do with sustainability is here. Well, not exactly here since it is virtual this year... But you get the idea.

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Solar Prices Dropped off a Cliff and Into the Ocean

Here's a great article in Clean Technica by   on the falling prices of solar (PV). The cost per watt is the key measure to follow. Basically a rule of thumb is that $3 per Watt installed should be profitable, before any tax credit considerations. In 2006 the cost was $3.50 per watt for the panels. Now prices have dropped below $0.50 and would be lower if there wasn't a trade tiff going on with China.  Even with $1 to $2 per watt installed, the prices are getting to be crazy low. The Investment Tax Credit dropped to 26% percent in 2020 and will drop to 22% in 2021, but the installed costs after tax benefits should be less than $2 per watt. That's a crazy profitable investment, especially for businesses. (See our discussion and  Solar Calculator on the residential and business PV investments.)

Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Mysteries of Methane Leak in Florida and Not-So-Clean Fossil Fuels

There’s a BIG NatGas leak (Methane) in Florida. The source of which is not being owned up to. There’s no oil/gas drilling in the area. And, until about a year ago, most such leaks might go totally unnoticed. Read the Bloomberg article No One is Owning Up to Releasing Cloud of Methane in Florida.
Oil Flaring at Night in North America (Bakken)

First Methane. The largest component of natural gas (NatGas) is methane (EIA). Various oil formations of fossil fuels are oil, mostly gas, or a combination. Even in coal formations there is methane, which has made coal mining especially dangerous for explosions and fires.
When you see the flame stacks burning above oil wells and refineries, this is natural gas being flared off. Flaring is far preferred then just releasing it, venting, because methane is a wicked greenhouse gas (GHG) at 82 times the global warming capacity as CO2 in the first 20 years (about 30 times as potent over 100 years).

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Solar Investment is Crazy Profitable for Businesses and Good for Homeowners

[Update. The Inflation Reduction Act 2022 has raised and extended the 30% investment tax credit to qualified investments. There are many limitations and additions. See our Blog post here. This makes all the financial discussions below much more profitable. Also, higher inflation and higher power inflation. The below Article was originally published in Summer of 2020.]
 
SBP has done several detailed financial calculators for analyzing both residential and commercials solar projects. SustainZine has a main web page on Solar Profitability where we discuss examples from our Solar Profitability Calculators: https://www.sustainzine.com/p/solarinvest.html ... Here are articles – and YouTube videos – discussing both:
  1. Quick Take on  Residential SolarSolar Invest 2020: Do Good and Save Money Too … See the video related to Residential here: Solar Residential: Good Investment & Doing Good
  2. Full Financial AnalysisSolarInvest2020: Residential Solar is Good, but Commercial Solar can be Crazy Profitable! … See the video related to Commercial/Business here: Solar for a Business can be Crazy Profitable: Do Good by Doing Well
YouTube Video on Residential: Solar Residential: Good Investment & Doing Good https://youtu.be/p0pqg4ZeTjY

Dr Elmer Hall talks about the doing good and making money at residential Solar. He discusses that subtilties of the financial analysis for a homeowner, and why it typically is a far better decision than a typical profit analysis would suggest. #SustainZine #Solar #RenewableEnergy #SBPLan

YouTube Video on Commercial Business: Solar for a Business can be Crazy Profitable: Do Good by Doing Well https://youtu.be/ulryBkhsKWg



Dr Elmer Hall talks about the doing good and making money by a business installing Solar. He discusses the financial analysis for a business and why it probably is such a great investment. The investment for businesses has huge tax savings. Plus, the money to pay for power to operate the business is already committed if the building is used. This is Part 2: See part 1 related to Residential as well. #SustainZine #Solar #RenewableEnergy #SBPLan #Profitability #CrazyProfitable 

Saturday, June 20, 2020

Solar-Fit Radio Show: Gallagher and Hall Talk Home is Castle and Solar Fitness

Elmer Hall on Solar-Fit Radio
Solar-Fit Renewable Energy Radio Show. June 20, 2020, Live at 10am ET.
Bill Gallagher, President/CEO of Solar-Fit (and world renown talk-show host) is interviewing Dr Elmer Hall (Strategic Business Planning Company). We're talking about Perpetual Innovation(tm), Hall and Hinkelman's book series on intellectual property (Patents) Commercialization. Then talking about about the COVID abnormal (and new-abnormal). And lastly move on to talk about renewable energy as people spend more time in their Castle (living, working, safe-distancing). What does this movement to update and improve the castle mean for Solar???...

Listen to the archive of this show on Flagler Broadcasting: Dr Elmer Hall on Solar-Fit Rewanable Energy Show June 20 2020.

Note that SustainZine has pages devoted to the Financial Analysis of Solar System Purchases (both Residential and Commercial). Residential is a good investment; Commercial can be crazy profitable!

Here is a long SustainZine article from a May 2018 radio show related to Energy Efficiency and Telework.

(Remember that the Renewable Investment Tax Credit was 30%, then dropped down to 26% in 2020 and will continue with a very rapid phase out over the next couple years.)

#Solar-Fit #SustainZine #Solar #RenewableEnergy #EnergyEfficiency
Here is the Solar-Fit radio show station:Solar-Fit Renewable Energy Radio Show
(We'll let you know as soon as this show is archived for your redo, review, renew!)