Comments for FPL Receives Approval to Build First Commercial-Scale Solar Power Facilities in Florida »
Posted By ecotourusa 1 year, 4 months ago in NewsFlorida Power & Light is one company trying alternative resources for energy. They own nuclear facilities, wind farms, etc. and now they will be building 3 commercial solar plants. I have recently invested in this company. they pay dividends. And, they own the largest wind farm in the nation. they were way ahead of T. Boone Pickens!! Go F
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ecotourusa1 year, 4 months ago
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Go FPL!!! a big move on their part! I think this is a good company to invest in. I'm not big on stocks. but, I think we should put our money into companies doing this type of solution-oriented business! more drilling is stupid for one thing, and it just gives the oil monsters and congressional prostitutes more power...in my opinion.
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ecotourusa1 year, 4 months ago
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FPL Group (FPL, news, msgs). I've written about this utility before. The Florida utility is the leading producer of wind power in the United States, with about 30% of the market. At the end of 2007 the company owned 5,100 megawatts of wind-generating capacity. The company plans to add 8,000 to 10,000 megawatts from 2007 through 2012. FPL is also the country's largest generator of electricity from solar thermal power plants. (These plants use sunlight to heat water that then runs turbines that produce electricity rather than generating power from panels of photovoltaic cells.) And it's the fourth-largest producer of electricity from nuclear power in the country. The shares yield 2.6%.
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socialnetworkin1 year, 4 months ago
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SunPower to build FP&L plants!
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/ticker/article...
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1-2-Oscar1 year, 4 months ago
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The "hybrid" facility to be built at Martin is very interesting. If successful, it may point the way to integrate renewable power sources with existing generating equipment, thereby not only cutting fuel costs but also saving on construction. It looks like a promising way to wean ourselves from traditional fossil fuel generating plants.
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ecotourusa1 year, 4 months ago
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Oscar, Your comment encouraged me to go back and read that part again. thanks. perfect idea!
we can get through this energy crisis that has been brewing for quite some time now.
but, drilling for more oil is not the answer. especially if it endangers our beautiful shorelines enjoyed by folks world-wide. (tuorism is a big industry here in FL)
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TonyByron1 year, 4 months ago
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I'll try this again after waiting for more than 20 minutes after my first try at posting.
"A recent study showed that a CSP (Concentrated Solar Power) plant 100x100miles square in a place like AZ/NM could supply the ENTIRE US with electricity."
Got a link to that study?
Some people seem to forget that with any solar power station the requirement is to produce enough energy for our needs while the sun shines but to also produce well over 100% more to go into some type of storage to provide for cloudy days/nighttime consumption.
I am a fan of wind and solar but neither is an instant panacea.
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TonyByron1 year, 4 months ago
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"I am a fan of wind and solar but neither is an instant panacea."
nor is drilling, Tony."
Of course not eco, but we will still need substantial amounts of oil for at least 20 years during our transition from oil. It makes sense to get that oil from home instead of overseas. The money will be spent in the US.
"I am not an expert, but, even on low sun days, there is a reserve, right?"
Not sure what you mean by that eco. Please elaborate.
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TonyByron1 year, 4 months ago
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"I am a fan of wind and solar but neither is an instant panacea."
nor is drilling, Tony."
Of course not eco, but we will still need substantial amounts of oil for at least 20 years during our transition from oil. It makes sense to get that oil from home instead of overseas.
"I am not an expert, but, even on low sun days, there is a reserve, right?"
Not sure what you mean by that eco. Please elaborate.
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MacR1 year, 4 months ago
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Thing is you need to convert that battery back-up to AC, what is in the battery is DC. This is where everyone closes their eyes and ears on this subject.
You see you will need to either have a converter in your home or one massive one and the power station. As it stands right now, nothing in our homes or business are going to work on DC power. We are not Europe.
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ecotourusa1 year, 4 months ago
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here is a solar fountain.
http://www.serenityhealth.com/antique_brown_cas...
the solar panel only collects energy from sunlight. but, does not store. so, on a rainy day, you'll get less hummingbirds and/or butterflies.
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DarkWizard1 year, 4 months ago
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MacR,
You are correct about the conversion issue. Unfortunately, the government and most energy companies are only putting a small fraction of their R&D toward alternate energy. Hopefully, as the technologies show more promise and grow in popularity and necessity, the funding should increase too. This would mean a probable solution to the conversion issue and the storage issues as they stand.
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socialnetworkin1 year, 4 months ago
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(an article of a small town run by wind technology.)
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/first-us-town-powe...
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simonsez1 year, 4 months ago
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FPL is doing a good job at all levels ... one of the best utilities in the country. Has been active in wind farms for years.
My question is how do you protect these solar farms from hurricanes, hail and other weather extremes? If they are badly damaged, I could envision a long repair cycle.
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jsimeon11 year, 4 months ago
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I have worked in the Public Utility field for many years and CAN'T understand how anyone could spend large fortunes on SOLAR energy systems without a WIND driven backup system and vice versa. With abundant Hydrogen throughout the UNIVERSE why are we not concentrating in this area? What about SEAWATER and energy produced during desalination? We've had this technology for over half a century. I've been SICK of internal combustion as we know it for 40 years. We are better than this! What are we waiting for? The Japanese? Let's hear it for OIL, POLITICS, and GREED!
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Dionys1 year, 4 months ago
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" With abundant Hydrogen throughout the UNIVERSE why are we not concentrating in this area?"
Because it's not as 'abundant' as you think? Because splitting it from a combinant form (such as water) requires energy? Talk to a hard scientist about Hydrogen as a fuel sometime.
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raza91 year, 4 months ago
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Suppression of innovative technology is nothing new.
Tesla had his problems with the patent examiners, but today's free-energy inventor has it much tougher. At the time of this writing, the U. S. Patent Office is headed by a Reagan appointee who came to the office straight from a top executive position with Phillips Petroleum.
http://home.earthlink.net/~drestinblack/tesfree...
TESLA FREE ENERGY RECEIVER
http://www.totse.com/en/fringe/free_energy/pea1...
totse.com | Suppressed Inventions
1940
B1-A,37 GENERATOR, FREE ENERGY, MORAY
Henry T. Moray demonstrates before members of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) his FREE ENERGY generator that gave a continuous output of 250,000 volts with no apparent input. The next day he was found shot in his lab and all of his notes and device were stolen.
Currently, the Cosray Research Inst. of Salt Lake City has been collecting Moray's papers from old aquaintances and attempting to duplicate the device.
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raza91 year, 4 months ago
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http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/354/C8115/
Prototype car runs 100 miles on four ounces of water as fuel
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/231252...
BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Police impound cars run on cooking oil
energy alternatives have been suppressed because the gas, energy and oil empire is too profitable for the few
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simonsez1 year, 4 months ago
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Another question ... what effect on climate are huge swaths of these solar farms going to have? Will they induce heating or cooling? Do we know? Will they effect weather patterns? Some have claimed the windfarms in the SW are affecting rain fall in those areas.
I don't think I would want to live close to one in a hot area like Florida.
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texangelwings1 year, 4 months ago
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Good questions!
What happens if we can no longer afford to buy oil?
There are hundreds of thousands of leases for oil and gas, that companies are just sitting on, not drilling nor working to get more oil and gas from the land that they are leasing. Companies have been leasing oil rights and other mineral rights, right here in East Texas and all of Oklahoma. The city of Fort Worth, Tx. has been drilling in their local parks. Longview, Tx. has a new shopping center and sitting in the parking lot is a oil well rig, pumping oil, when the our government says they can pump.
I use to have two solar panels on my roof, that heated my 80 gallon hot water tank. No problem!
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raza91 year, 4 months ago
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Howdy to a fellow Texan! I was born in Longview, Tx and now live up north. I am all too familiar with the sight of those 'iron horses' =D
The East Texas Oil Field has produced more than 4.5 billion barrels of oil. And the wells are still pumping. But, as you stated, only when the government says they can. I think it's all about not flooding the market, to make more money. Much like the diamond trade.
The first oil discovered sold for $1.10 a barrel, but prices plummeted to 15 cents as supply flooded the market, according to the East Texas oil museum. Production swelled to more than 1,000,000 barrels daily and in August 1931, National Guardsmen were ordered into the area 'to the keep peace'. These actions finally culminated in legislative action; a market-demand law, confiscation law, truck-tender law, the refinery control and felony bill, and the Connolly Hot Oil Act of 1935.
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chevydog1 year, 4 months ago
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Not bad technology. But if one reads the story, the largest of these three units is 75 mW. One is 10mW, and one is 25 mW. Most conventional base load power plants that are being proposed now are on the scale of 1000 mW.
Given that this probably represents one of the best economic scenarios for solar power, it seems to me confirmation that solar is no more than a niche provider--nice, but only in specialized locations and under specialized conditions.
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chevydog1 year, 4 months ago
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Nothing is ever free. In this case they'll have to pay (at minimum) maintenance, depreciation, and local/state taxes on their investment.
My guess is that they convinced their public utility commission that this was the least expensive way to add this increment of power. Who knows what assumptions and logic were used? If one really wants to try it, this is the time to push. The next time around may not be as easy. Needed electric may be different; and -for better or worse-they'll have an operating record rather than assumptions.
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slate1 year, 4 months ago
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You will have the costs of th epanels and such but there is something 'free' in the equasion the sun. Will we still be charged the same rate that they charge for the power that needs to be produced by buring fossil fuels, or will it be cheaper since the fuel cost is not part of their costs anymore?
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simonsez1 year, 4 months ago
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I'm serious ...
Would animals (all creatures) be in some danger around large solar farms? Is it hot around it and above it. Could they function under it? Would it reflect, causing birds to crash or over-heat?
I'm asking. A small home system to heat water makes sense.
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hyperbola1 year, 4 months ago
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Actually the US is way behind in renewable energy - even behind third world countries. The renewable energy company in which I decided to invest is Iberdrola (Spain). Apart from being the 4th biggest electric company in the world (in something like 25 countries, including the US), they are heavily into wind, solar, wave, etc.... Plus, I expect to keep making gains as the dollar sinks and sinks versus the Euro.
Iberdrola Ingenieria To Build ISCCS 150 MW Solar Thermal Plant in Egypt
Egypt's National Renewable Energies Authority (NREA) signed a contract last week under which Spain's IBERDROLA Ingenieria in consortium with Japan's Mitsui will build a turnkey 150-megawatt (MW) solar thermal generating plant in Kuraymat...
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/st...
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hyperbola1 year, 4 months ago
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Iberdrola's Got the Most Wind On the Block
The owner of the most wind power in the world is now Spanish utility Iberdrola, according to Emerging Energy Research. The research firm's report says Iberdrola now owns nearly 7 gigawatts of wind power plants, after adding over 1.55 gigawatts of new wind plant construction and an additional 1.45 gigawatts through its purchase of ScottishPower's wind plants in 2007.
Iberdrola managed to pass former leader Florida-based power company FPL Energy during 2007, despite the fact that FPL also added a sizable amount of wind power plants to bring its total wind plant ownership to 5 gigawatts....
http://earth2tech.com/2008/04/09/iberdrolas-got...
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