[Brilliant]

It's really designed to force poor people to move out of the State.

[dynachrome]

"The fund will be created from a small surcharge "

R-i-i-i-i-g-h-t.

[RadioAstronomer]

I think this is a good idea. The more energy independent you are in your own home, the more you are prepared for emergencies such as earthquakes, blizzards, etc.

[Amerigomag]

The fund will be created from a small surcharge on electric and gas customers within PG&E, Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and So. Cal. Gas Company territories

A tax implemented without legislative approval by a governor who has promised not to raise taxes.

A tax imposed on a plurality of Californians yet benefiting all California residents regardless of location.

These were the basic elements motivating the Boston Tea Party.

[Boot Hill]

article:   "With the high energy bills shocking California ratepayers this month, there is no better time to jump start an affordable solar power market bringing true independence from our over-reliance on natural gas"

---

Where your connection to the electric utility grid is either non-existent or problematic, solar cells can offer a practical solution. However, when used as a supplement to, or replacement for the grid, there is simply no rational economic way to justify the use of photovoltaic cells...

 

The Inefficiencies of Solar Power
(Based upon a horizontal PV array located at
the average continental U.S. latitude of 38º.)

ref.	source	loss (%)	power (per m2)
1.	Solar flux	-	1,368 W
2.	Atmospheric losses	45	752 W
3.	Night times losses	50	376 W
4.	Solar angle losses	50	188 W
5.	Cell conversion losses	88	22.6 W
6.	DC®AC inverter losses	10	20.3 W
7.	Net efficiency		1.5%
8.	Net energy             (per m2 per day)		0.5 kWh
9.	Value of energy     (per m2 per day)		4.3 ¢
10.	Solar panel cost               (per m2)		$530
11.	Payback period		33 years
Notes: Above the atmosphere. Compare to solar constant. Loss = atmos. absorp. + atmos. reflect. + cloud absorp. + cloud reflect. See additional references: 1,   2,   3 Necessary for calculating average daily value of energy production. Effect of solar angle on efficiency. Line 4 equals 4.5kWh per day. Compare to U.S. Average Daily Solar Radiation. Shell SQ175-PC, including specified de-rating for cell temperature and irradiance level. 5kW modular, certified, grid-interactive, inverter. Line 6 divided by line 1. Line 6 times 86,400 and divided by 3.6E6. From 2004 DOE stats for average U.S. residential price. Shell SQ175-PC solar panel, $699, 1.32m2 area. Exclusive of installation, inverter, interest, etc.

 
Let's put those numbers into practical terms...
How much energy do we get out of our $530 solar panel?

1. It will only light a single 60 watt light bulb for a 1/3 of a day!
2. It's the same amount of energy contained in 0.16 gallons of gasoline!
3. You'd get the same amount of energy by burning a 2 inch long 2x4!
4. It is the amount of energy contained in just four scoops of vanilla ice cream!
5. It's only 2% of the average daily household consumption of energy.

[Drango]

Public Goods Fund Trough

[GregoryFul]

Solar, Green power, is actually not quite so. What solar power does is capture solar energy that would otherwise be reflected or be re-radiated from the earth. Similar to the capture effect of "green-house" gasses, the energy absorbed by the solar panels will stay on earth, and result in global warming.

[SierraWasp]

"“Its official!” celebrated Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate for Environment California, a nonprofit, nonpartisan environmental advocacy group that has been pushing for a large-scale solar incentive program for several years."

"Environment California is a statewide, citizen-based environmental advocacy organization. Our professional staff combines independent research, practical ideas and tough-minded advocacy to overcome the opposition of powerful special interests and win real results for California's environment. Environment California draws on 30 years of success in tackling our state's top environmental problems."

This "pantload" of self-serving BS (bogus stuff) is so big it has to be spoon fed to people with a spoon the size of my aluminum scoop shovel. This pile of BS is big enough to challenge the mountain of "Colon Blow" featured on a classic edition of Saturday Night Live a few years ago!!!

I haven't even read the thread yet, not all of the article and I can tell by the smell it wasn't hay... as the farmer hauled another load away!!! This has got to be the most hysterical hoax ever perpetrated on the people of CA... NO! WAIT!! The Sierra-Nevada CONservancy was more hysterical!!!

[SierraWasp]

"The PUC program comes at the request of Governor Schwarzenegger and mirrors the bulk of the governor-backed Million Solar Roofs bill (SB 1), authored by Senator Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles), and broadly supported by the state Legislature."

Is this why you posted this hose-down of hog-wash???

[Zetman]

with...the ability to get a credit for excess electricity generated by the solar system, California homeowners could expect a return on their estimated $11,000 investment within the first month.

Wow!! This technology has come a long way!! I have no idea how they will be able to harness all of the excess electricity generated by the solar system, much less give me a credit for it, but I am in favor of it. When do I get my first check??

[patton]

Other benefits of investing in solar power include cleaner air and more jobs. For every solar roof, at least one ton of global warming pollution is reduced each year. In addition, for every megawatt of solar installed, seven times more jobs are created compared with the equivalent in natural gas power plants. Environment California Research & Policy Center research estimates 15,000 new California jobs will be created from this new solar market.

Ok, it takes 700% more people to produce the power, and the footprint of humans in the area is reduced (pollution)?

These people have no math skills at all, do they?

[radioman]

the ability to get a credit for excess electricity generated by the solar system

LMAO
With a 2.5 kilowatt system there will be no excess electricity generated. The alternator on your car puts out more than that!
.

[truemiester]

Good idea.
Bad implementation. "The CSI, modeled largely on the Million Solar Roofs bill that ran aground in the state Legislature last year" If the voters turned it down, how can they implement it through the utilites? Isn't this an end run around the voters?