#but the backup battery for when the solar energy is out is broken so we have no power for most of the night

[sirpeppersto]

our electricity has been fucked for the past few days so im blogging in the dark hiiii

[gosunsolarenergy]

Portable Solar Generators - Build Your Own Electric Grid

As the recent power outages in Texas have shown us, the grid is far more vulnerable than many of us realize. In this article, we are going to discuss what causes power outages, why solar energy can provide an easy solution, how solar panels don't necessarily equal independence from the grid, and how to build your own personal portable solar generator system.

Solar Panels Don't Automatically Equate to Grid Independence

Power outages are usually due to a disruption that happens somewhere between the homeowner and the electricity supplier. Even if the power plant is still producing electricity, a breach in the system -- like a broken connection or power line -- prevents the electricity from reaching the consumer.

If a home has solar panels, then they can produce their own energy, but that still doesn't mean they are immune from blackouts. That's because they are still connected to the grid. They do contribute to the production of electricity, but if there is no way to store that solar energy that is produced right then and there, the grid has to pick up the slack (this is how net metering  works).

When solar panels produce electricity, this power goes into the grid. The production production is monitored, then credited to a homeowner’s account, causing a meter to roll backward. If it rolls back far enough, the power company actually owes you money at the end of the month.

Making Your Own Portable Solar Generator

The only way to keep the lights on during a blackout is to store your solar energy on site. To do so, you need a battery backup system. This lets you keep your home running, even when the rest of the neighborhood has no power whatsoever.

At this point many of your neighbors will fire up their gas generators. But they come with all sorts of problems. They are very loud, produce pollution, and can't be used in confined spaces.

A portable solar generator has a battery or battery pack that gets its power from solar panels. Direct current electricity is made and then goes to a battery. It then goes to an inverter and becomes A/C power. What's great about solar generators is that they can be charged by a wall plug-in, and even  a car 12 volt connection (as GoSun's Chill and Powerbank 144 can).

There are all sorts of ways to build your own portable solar generator. We at GoSun offer many products that let you produce your own electricity (the Solar Panel 10, the Solar Panel 30, the Solar Table, the Chill) and store it (the Powerbank). We have different products to meet your different demands.

Scroll down to see GoSun's offerings.

Solar Panel 10

GoSun's simplest solar charger is the Solar Panel 10. It charges your phone while traveling or camping. Connect any device via USB, place it in the Sun and you can charge about at fast as a typical wall outlet charger. The best part about it is that it's portable, foldable, and weighs less than a pound.

Solar Panel 30

Our SolarPanel 30+ is perfect for charging devices using nothing but sunshine. It's simple: just connect any device and place in the sun. Under full sun, this will charge about at fast as a typical wall outlet charger. It's portable power as you go!

Solar Table 60

Designed to charge the PowerBank+, the SolarTable 60 is our fastest, most powerful solar charger. With it, you can use the sun to charge laptops, tablets, cameras, phones, and lights – or even power the Chill and Fusion at night. With a 60W collapsible solar table, you have a tempered glass table surface and shade to cover the Chill.

By keeping your appliances in the shade, this solar generator lasts longer and provides power that goes practically all day.

PowerBank

Our PowerBank 144 unleashes the freedom of portable power. Capable of charging laptops, tablets, cameras, phones, lights, and other devices - just plug in anywhere, anytime. Or use it to power the Chill or Fusion

Here are tech specs on our Powerbank:

Material              

ABS Shell

Power Output  

144 wh

Power Input      

20V 2A ma (AC Adapter)

Max Voc 28Vdc (Solar PV)

Ports    

USB (3x)

Cigarette Lighter (1x)

Power source    

Electric

Light      

White LED Lantern

Red LED Lantern

The Chill's Solar Battery Pack

The GoSun Chill is great for many reasons. We've mentioned in other blog posts that it cools better than an ice cooler, holds way more drinks, uses far less power than a car fridge, and never needs ice.

But something that gets overlooked is how great the Chill's portable lithium battery pack is. Beyond powering the Chill, it can also charge your phones (up to three at once), any USB-enabled electrical device, and even power the GoSun Fusion, letting you cook your food and keep it hot while keeping your drinks cool.

With its powerful output of 15 amps at 12 volts, it's essentially one of the only batteries of its kind that can power all 12 volt devices. These include such electrical devices as air compressors and fans.

Tech Specs

• Output Interface: DC, Micro USB, Triple USB, USB/DC

• Input Interface: MICRO USB/DC

• LED Lamp Illumination

Shop the Chill ➞

Video: GoSun's Solar Generator in Action

Want to see how the Powerbank works in action? Check out this video below, and see that solar generators really are the way to go.

[backyardrevolutionplanreviews]

Backyard Revolution Review- How I Used It?

It might come as a surprise to many of you when I say that you can build your solar energy system within 4-5 hours. And it also takes up less area to install the panels.

We often forget that non-renewable resources are on the verge of extinction, and we need to make a lot of changes to prevent damaging the natural environment even further. This is why opting for renewable energy is a viable option.

Then again, the cost of solar panel installation calls for a substantial investment and space. Keeping such drawbacks in mind, the Backyard Revolution program has been created to serve the needs of all.

Hi, I am Nicholas Altucher, a proud owner of a bookstore in Seattle with a passion for renewable energy and green technology.

After struggling for years to save up for green energy, I failed miserably! This instead motivated me to find alternative sources.

So, in the following sections, you’ll find an informative review of the Backyard Revolution to help you understand the nitty-gritty of this program.

What is Backyard Revolution?

Since the last few decades, human beings have evolved in the field of technology, and renewable energy sources. One such source is solar energy, which not only needs a lot of space, but deep pockets as well.

This is why Zack Bennett created the Backyard Revolution, which is an online program that teaches you the process of building an energy source that can be used in about four hours. The aim of going about this investment is that it cuts down your waste while you save over 60% of your energy bill each month.

Backyard Revolution also focuses on showing you how you can install this system on your property within a maximum of 20 minutes. This means it can be a great weekend project that will help you enjoy the benefits of solar energy in the long run.

So instead of paying professionals more than $13,000- $15,000 for making it an eco-friendly home, you can use this guide to create your own energy source. It consists of step-by-step instructions that simplify the entire process.

Who is Zack Bannett?

Zack Bennett is a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who proposed this innovation. If you compare this unique technique to the conventional method of harvesting solar energy, you’ll realize that you can generate more power by following this method. The main goal was to create a product that would be efficient enough to reduce electricity bills.

Many households don’t have the space or the budget for solar panel installation. But Backyard Revolution is a more beneficial alternative source. It provides a vast amount of power at a cheaper rate, without taking up much space.

On an interesting note, the inspiration behind this program was about self-reliance and survival. Bennett’s home was robbed during a power failure, since there weren’t any other security systems in place for sending an alert to the police. After which he started his research on finding ways to prevent such occurrences.

During this time, he found an elaborative research on zig-zag solar panel installations. Since it comes with easy steps for harvesting solar energy, he started sharing his research to help other people with their needs.

How did I come across the Backyard Revolution?

After having attended many discussions on global warming, which is one of the burning issues in the present era, I wanted to make a few lifestyle changes. So I started looking for ways to reduce our household power consumption.

This was about the same time when my colleague was trying to figure out the workable solutions for alternative energy sources. And he spoke about the advantages of the Backyard Revolution. I was especially interested in the fact that I could create my solar system by following the given instructions from this program.

The entire process of making this solar backup system doesn’t involve any form of pollution. Moreover, when there is a power shortage during some emergencies, it’s always good to have a backup. And it did take me by surprise when I discovered that it takes up very little space, to be precise about 4-square feet area.

In most cases, we need to install a solar system by taking professional help that can cost over thousands of dollars. But with Backyard Revolution, I managed to purchase all the tools and accessories for creating the 3-dimensional structure at about $300.

Since I didn’t have any technical knowledge, I was a bit too hesitant to create this structure. Thankfully, the instructions were pretty easy-to-follow, so it didn’t take me more than 5 hours to complete the installation. Since then, I feel more satisfied with being successful in reducing the carbon footprint of our house.

What does this program involve?

The Backyard Revolution offers everything that will help you save a lot from your energy bills. You’ll find pictures, diagrams, shopping lists, video tutorials, an owner’s manual, along with several bonuses that support you throughout this creative process.

The bonuses that are included in this set gives you the details about how to store solar energy on your property. And it showcases the possible alternative sources, in case the power grid fails for some reason. In fact, all the information can be downloaded in an instant.

But to take advantage of all the benefits that this program offers, you should have a good internet connection and sufficient storage space on your device. On top of that, you’ll be receiving a tactical flashlight in your mail after you place your order, which is a bonus.

It also gives you the option to check out the videos online if required. Therefore you’ll have easy access to information whenever you need any help with setting up the power generation system. Even if you aren’t one of those DIY-experts, the Backyard Revolution will offer you everything that you need to get started with this solar energy project.

How does Backyard Revolution work?

Backyard Revolution is an online program that gives you several ideas to have a life that’s free from energy dependence. Other than having to purchase the guide, you’ll need to buy the materials for constructing a primary power station. And the best part, the zig-zag solar panel takes up less than 5% of the surface area when compared to the traditional system.

You’ll be spending somewhere between $200 and $300 for making this power station. The total expenditure is almost equivalent to about two months of power bills in an average household. And that means, you can end up saving hundreds of dollars in about three months time.

Since the power station works like a backup device, you’ll always have access to the comfort that your home provides. The instructions are pretty simple to follow, and you get to make this device without having to pay for an overpriced control system.

Moreover, the Backyard Revolution also gives you a clear picture of where you can purchase the materials and the required tools for building this system. This online program is broken down into a total of 11 steps, and all the information should be followed carefully.

The information includes- dimensions of the parts, drawings and images of the assembly process, and the process of connecting the power station to your house. Finally, it will teach you how to build an upright apparatus with the zig-zag pattern for collecting solar energy to provide an efficient power backup.

The benefits of this program?

Here’s a list of the five different advantages that will come your way, if you choose to take up the DIY approach given in Backyard Revolution:

Easy to use

You’ll have several different mechanisms that you can adopt to protect your family when you’re using the ideas that are given in the Backyard Revolution. It provides you sufficient time to build your solar system that protects the household during emergencies.

If you aren’t confident about building the structure entirely on your own, then you can hire someone to do the same for you. Because in the end, this minor investment not only gives a good return but also supports the environment.

For instance, I managed to save about $100 in the first month itself after having invested less than $300. If you can bring about a few minor changes in your lifestyle, then you don’t have to pay for your local energy bills. In truth, you cannot use this solar energy system to operate heavy appliances like your AC or fridge.

Requires less space

The Backyard Revolution solar system doesn’t take over 5% of the surface footage area than your conventional solar panel system for producing electricity. So even if you don’t have enough space around the house, you can install this compact solar system. Furthermore, you can save over 60% of your monthly energy costs by following the instructions.

Many homeowners have also managed to build around two to three systems for slashing their electricity bills. And since it doesn’t take up much space, you’ll still have enough room to enjoy the outdoors.

Simple protection method

Since the Backyard Revolution system utilizes less space, it gives you more options for protecting your investment. You can also share this upgrade process with your neighbors, so they can be free from any more trouble during a power outage. However, you can also power the indoor and outdoor lights by using the solar system without having to pay for energy bills.

You can get rid of the electrical grid

If you’re focusing on minimalist living, then you can use the Backyard Revolution system to power the entire house. Even if you’re installing this unit for survival during a power outage, then this design will have you covered during the worst situations. And there’s no comfort in comparison to the shelter of your own home, which is precisely what this program offers you.

Less maintenance

To charge the Backyard Revolution system, you just need to place it in a spot that receives maximum sunlight in your house. It will take about 4-5 hours to charge the battery fully, so find the best area in your backyard accordingly. And it has pretty hassle-free maintenance. You only need to remove the debris that tends to collect on the surface of your solar panels.

Does it have a Money back guarantee?

Yes, the Backyard Revolution provides you with a 60-day money-back guarantee that supports your investment. This duration gives you sufficient time to try out the process and to test your installation skills.

But if you aren’t satisfied with the final result and if the program doesn’t offer you proper instructions to set up your solar system, you can request a complete refund. That means you can build your trust in this brand, and if you give your best in creating your solar energy system, then it won’t leave any room for disappointment.

Final Words

The Backyard Revolution, in my opinion, is a safe, reliable, and easy-to-install device with a good return on investment. It will help you support the changes that need to be made in your lifestyle to prevent global warming.

After all, a small initiative can also make a huge impact, especially in a world where pollution rates are at a rampant increase. It also saves you from having to pay those high electricity bills. And no electricity board promises to have you covered during an emergency blackout.

[the-fitsquad]

Laptop Sale Obtaining Guidelines

The trend of getting utilized laptops is acquiring popularity among men and women. Naturally, the best way to get a laptop is to acquire it brand new because you know that it will be in pristine situation when you get it. With dozens of manufacturers competing for your business, there is never a shortage of laptop computers sale delivers available to you. Comparing prices online and in retailers will enable you to get an notion of what models and makers offer you the best machine in your price variety. You can then verify weekly and seasonal newspaper advertisements, websites and online discount vendors for the ideal laptops sale costs on the model that you want.

It’s easy to error this new machine for the original XPS 13. They share the exact same overarching design and style: sleek metal instances, practically bezel-significantly less screens and an eye-catching carbon-fiber weave covering the keyboard deck and trackpad. Although it would have been nice to see some dramatic alterations, it’s nonetheless a handsome, premium-searching laptop. The XPS 13 two-in-1 also feels just as sturdy as its sibling there’s no flex to the case around the keyboard or the screen. The 1 main difference is the convertible’s two prominent hinges, which prevent the display from sitting flush with the keyboard.

Aside from becoming Microsoft’s most traditional notebook, the Surface Laptop is also the company’s flagship Windows ten S device, its slightly stripped-down OS meant for schools. The main distinction it has with standard versions of Windows ten is that it can run only apps from the Microsoft Retailer, not legacy apps. Microsoft says this will make it carry out far better more than time, considering that it won’t get bogged down by malware and other potentially hazardous software. Windows Store apps also run in a secured container, so you do not have to worry about them undertaking anything nefarious to your personal computer with out your understanding.

If you select to purchase a replacement laptop battery for a regional dealer, make sure that you verify the battery very first to make positive it is authentic. Most nearby dealers are authorized to sell laptop accessories and parts nevertheless, generating positive that you get the proper item is important. If you acquire a replacement laptop battery that has not come from the manufacturer directly, your laptop could be severely broken as suitable power supply would not be provided to it. No doubt it would expense you significantly less and it would appear like a genuinely great bargain, but you may possibly unknowingly be creating a mistake as the replacement laptop battery could catch fire if it is not tested as per industry requirements. This is why it is vital that you purchase a replacement laptop battery from a company outlet or authorized service center.

The use of incredibly thin film technology making PV cells has gone a long way toward reducing the weight and size of solar panels so they can be utilised effectively in conjunction with laptop chargers. However, there has not been a breakthrough in technology creating solar cells that can directly energy a laptop as has been developed powering a calculator. Furthermore, solar cell technology typically demands direct exposure to sunlight, so any laptop exposed in this manner could simply overheat and malfunction becoming damaged. Moreover, the concept for direct powering does take away the opportunity to operate the laptop during parts of the day when sunlight is not obtainable, even if it was feasible to do so with out damaging the device.

All of the charger managed merchandise get exhausted in the event the charging is finished. Men and women appear for chargers and batteries which function in complete sync to be in a position to supply the least time for charging the chargers and maximum time for discharging the chargers. This obviates the user’s require to take a seat glued to the energy outlet. The chargers are however utilized for charger managed lightweight products like notebook computers and cell phones. The very ideal laptop adapter in UK is available online quickly. The client have to check the laptop chargers value on numerous web sites to get the least expensive one particular.

Just like all of the electronics, ultimately laptop adapters stop doing function. There are plenty of factors from exposure to these extreme situations, also a lot wire bending, or basically just that it need to be the aging adapter. Unluckily, there is no definitely certain timeframe that adapters may possibly last. Most of their lifetime is truly depending upon just how much they may be utilized. Beneath I’d like to list several techniques of checking wither your personal adapter has stopped functioning.

A couple of hours later, I decided to try once again. I set the laptop on a wooden coffee table and pressed the power button. Instantly, I heard the disk whir to life, giving me the false impression that it was about to start off up-till I saw smoke seeping out from among the keys, that is. I believed my eyes had been deceiving me, so I picked up the personal computer for a closer appear, resting it on my six-months-pregnant belly. I was not imagining anything smoke was pouring out of the keyboard, considerably heavier now, and the computer itself was shockingly hot to the touch. The air took on the odor of burning chemical compounds, and I quickly unplugged the computer from its charger.

Use of solar power could need to have to take into consideration getting a number of batteries for operating a laptop when in locations exactly where a traditional electric source is not accessible. Most transportable solar power kits can create one particular-third of the essential energy to recharge a laptop battery. Therefore, it would take 3 hours on a solar charger to generate a completely charged laptop battery. Consumers going this route may wish to take into account the purchase of a backup battery for laptop use out in the wild, for instance, when on a camping trip in order to preserve continuous or extended computing use.

NVIDIA has officially launched the GTX 960M , and a number of makers have revealed new, thin gaming laptops the video card was made for at the same time. 1 of these laptops is the ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) G501, which measures .81 inch in depth and weighs 4.54 pounds. The GTX 960M card inside it can deliver “sharp, vivid visuals, higher-quality textures and smooth framerates in the most demanding games,” at least according to ASUS. In addition to the video card, you can locate a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, 4GB of GDDR5 RAM and a 512GB SSD under the hood, encased in a typical ROG brushed-metal body with red accents.

The laptop Computer battery pack will be the handy resource of power when distance from the significant energy supply but you should not rely to the li-ion rechargeable battery as the Principal energy for the Laptop. The significantly less you make use of your li-ion rechargeable battery, the longer li-ion batteries might lost. You have to only use your battery pack to power your notebook Computer if it is distance from a key power source. Due to the truth that which much more men and women are relaying on electronic Notebook Pc in spot of the big quantity of group of material to lug round, so several organizations are at the moment providing notebooks.

It is advisable for travellers from the United States whose appliances are rated 110 to 127 volts and will surely get damaged when plugged into electrical outlets in Sweden. Modern appliances, e.g., shavers, laptop chargers, mobile telephone charger, have an automatic voltage sensing function this gives them a wide voltage rating of 100 to 250 volts. This makes them operable on electrical outlets in Sweden. You might need a converter to be on the safer side. A converter is a device that will reduce the voltage from 230 volts to the rated voltage of an appliance. Converters are low-cost and convenient they are as a result transportable and handy for travelers. The disadvantage of converters is they are not devised for heavy duty or extended use, make them wear out rapidly simply because they use chips in their internal circuitry therefore they are in the habit of obtaining broken swiftly when heated as a outcome of endless use.

If you want an AC outlet slapped on a battery, you don’t have a lot of choices—the 12 models we regarded as make up the bulk of the alternatives when it comes to transportable, cost-effective AC power sources. We split these models into two groups based on capacity and price tag. The very first group of smaller batteries incorporated eight models that were reasonably reasonably priced and produced sense for a carry-on, laptop bag, or backpack, so we focused on the most portable models—generally lithium-based units that weigh much less than five pounds. The second group contained a handful of larger models for outside enthusiasts and field experts that need to have far more energy than the smaller sized models can pack.

Choose up any newspaper and appear for the ads of educational institutions and you will surely uncover that they are offering free of charge laptops to each student during admission. But, these institutes charge quite heavily on name of providing totally free laptops. The tremendous require for laptops by the students proves that the need to have for technologies is intense. Maintaining this in concern, presently, even schools are offering laptops to their students. They have realized the significance of net in the life of the students.

The first step is to make sure that all of your employees know exactly what is anticipated of them with regards to acceptable use of organization hardware, software , and network access. For instance, staff may possibly be prohibited from accessing social media networks from business computers or from removing company tablets or laptops from the premises. The policy should include a description of the disciplinary consequences of violations. Even though an acceptable use policy won’t deter malicious insiders, by establishing distinct rules, firms can a lot more very easily detect deviations and take corrective measures.

As you can envision, this laptop gets hot when you are playing games – especially around exactly where its effective elements sit. But ASUS’ cooling setup does a decent job of keeping issues from obtaining out of hand. Although playing Overwatch and Doom, the GPU temperature hovered between 75c and 80c, which is standard for a gaming Computer. I never ever saw any troubles due to overheating. You will certainly hear the system’s fans, after they get going, but they’re nowhere near as loud as what I’ve heard on other high-powered gaming laptops.

The Acer Aspire A single has a 10.1 inch screen that is crystal clear. The screen is smooth and it supplies you with a excellent view of everything on your laptop from photographs to movies to the net. The smaller sized screen size also contributes to the laptops light weight. This laptop computer only weighs around three pounds which tends to make it incredibly portable. This is helpful to business travelers who continuously want to have their laptops with them at all times. The small size of the laptop is also beneficial for travelers particularly those who take airplanes to several places. The personal computer is not bulky and hard to carry about and it can be simply set on the pull out tables they have on airplanes.

• One of the 1st items travelers will notice when settling into a hotel room in Germany is the different style of electrical outlet. Compared to, say American 110 Volts, Germans significantly larger 220 Volt outlets place out considerably more power. There are adapters available, but you would be considerably much better served by bringing along a voltage regulator with an interchangeable adaptor. The additional voltage being sent to your electrical device with no regulation can trigger key malfunctions. This is especially accurate of fairly fragile electronics such as laptops.

Even though the Osborne 1 was enormous in comparison to contemporary laptops, it was revolutionary for its time, because it allowed folks to carry their data with them, and the computer did not have to be left in a single location. Even so, the Osborne 1 was so massive that it was not attainable to run it on a battery. Most laptops nowadays now use lithium ion batteries. Even though laptops have a couple of positive aspects more than their desktop counterparts, they have some disadvantages as well. Unlike desktops, they are limited in their potential to be upgraded. As of this writing, their is no type aspect for laptops, and the fees and technical troubles involved with producing them straightforward to upgrade aren’t feasible.

We currently have Star Trek- and Jetsons-like video-chat capabilities. Rather than demand the big, clunky monitors that we saw George Jetson and Captain Kathryn Janeway use, ours use free Facetime and Skype apps that run on smartphones and laptops. Holodeck-kind video conferences have also been attainable for several years. I ‘spoke through hologram’, in 2011, to a bunch of entrepreneurs in Uruguay utilizing technologies that a small company there, ‘Hologram’, had developed. Bear in mind ‘the holographic message’ from Princess Leia to Obi-Wan Kenobi, in Star Wars? That is how my beamed image looked.

Filed under: refurbished laptop Tagged: batteries, laptop, refurbished from KelsusIT.com – Refurbished laptops, desktop computers , servers http://bit.ly/2zafAPj via IFTTT

[tortuga-aak]

Solar micro-grids aren't a miracle solution for Puerto Rico's power woes

Alvin Baez/Reuters

Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico's aging power grid ruined, which was run by the bankrupt power authority, PREPA.

PREPA's economic woes led to the power company becoming very opposed to renewable energy, instead opting to keep the broken system.

Elon Musk offered power grids to Puerto Rico in order to power its hospitals, but Puerto Rico needs much more than philanthropy.

The island needs a new power grid and more solar grids that can be paid for and operated safely.

  In addition to its many other devastating human consequences, Hurricane Maria left the island of Puerto Rico with its power grid in ruins. Power was knocked out throughout the island, with an estimated 80 percent of its transmission and distribution wires incapacitated. When hospitals and other critical users could not get backup power and water supplies ran low, an extended outage became a humanitarian crisis that has yet to be resolved.

This shameful outcome should have been avoided with strong, swift federal leadership. Yet more than five weeks after the storm, only about 40 percent of the grid has been rebuilt, and service remains unreliable even where power is restored.

As the recovery process inches its way forward, the questions many are asking go like this: Why are we rebuilding the grid to be the same as it was before the storm? Can’t we use this as an opportunity to create a more modern, resilient, renewable power system? Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for an upgrade?

The answer to these questions, from my perspective having worked with and researched the power industry for four decades, has little to do with technologies and everything to do with some nearly insurmountable financial and governance challenges. There is a path forward, but it will not be easy.

The power system before Maria

Prior to Maria, Puerto Rico had one of the largest public power authorities in the U.S., known as PREPA, serving a population of 3.4 million people from 31 power plants, 293 substations and 32,000 miles of wire. Almost half its generation was from old, very expensive oil-fired plants, resulting in prices about 22 cents per kilowatt hour, among the highest in the U.S. The island has several solar photovoltaic farms but gets about 46 percent of its power from oil and only about 3 percent from solar.

At the center of all this is PREPA and its outsized role in Puerto Rico. With US$9 billion of debt, PREPA has been part of the contentious refinancing process that ultimately required congressional action. PREPA is also the largest employer on the island, with strong connections to the island’s leadership, so proposals perceived to adversely impact PREPA can be difficult to enact. Recently the island has established a new energy commission called PREC with oversight over PREPA’s plans, spending and rates.

The PREC’s efforts at reform underscore the enormous challenges the utility faces. In September 2016 the PREC issued an order directing PREPA to convert some of its oil plants to gas, renegotiate some high-priced renewables contracts and purchase more renewable energy.

In April 2017 PREPA issued a new financial plan with starkly grim prospects: a $4 billion maintenance backlog, the loss of fully one-quarter of its sales in the next 10 years, and continued red ink as far as the eye can see.  Meanwhile, renewable power developers who have tried to build plants on the island have encountered great difficulties, as chronicled in this blog post.

Then, just before Maria, PREPA declared bankruptcy. Maria therefore destroyed the grid of a system that was already bankrupt, having trouble maintaining its service and paying its bills, resistant to renewable interconnections, and politically difficult to reform.

Gabriel Stargardters/Reuters

Proposals for rebuilding with micro-grids

The challenge, then, is to 1) restore energy access as quickly as possible; 2) begin to build a long-term resilient and operable grid; and 3) reform a broken regulatory system. In the wake of the storm, clean energy experts and businesses saw this as the perfect opportunity to start over.

“Puerto Rico will lead the way for the new generation of clean energy infrastructure,” one solar CEO asserted, “and the world will follow.” Elon Musk also famously tweeted an offer to solve the island’s energy problems with Tesla solar systems and batteries.

With an array of solar panels and batteries, a group of buildings, such as a hospital, or a neighborhood can power itself and operate independently in the case of an outage with the central grid – called “islanding” in industry parlance.

Provided they can be paid for and operated safely, quickly setting up these solar microgrid systems is an excellent measure that is both stopgap and long-term contributor. These systems can be set up in a matter of days, providing enough power to help neighborhoods with critical power needs, such as cellphone charging, powering cash machines and providing electricity service for health care and first responders.

However, these systems cost tens of thousands of dollars, and there is currently no substantial way to pay for them other than the kindness of strangers. Three-and-a-half million people would need perhaps 350,000 of these systems – at a price tag in the billions – to provide only a fraction of most families’ power needs.

Even if costs were not a consideration, these distributed systems aren’t a substitute for the grid. Many people think that microgrids don’t need poles and wires, but if they serve more than one building they use pretty much the same grid as we use today.

Once the grid is rebuilt, the new grid-independent systems should then become part of a series of new community microgrids, or networks of multiple solar panel installations backed up by storage. These interconnected systems would be able to “island” together to keep the whole community running at partial if not complete levels of service. With the necessary planning and approvals, new community power organizations could be set up – perhaps separate from PREPA – to finance the conversion of local grids to a more resilient form.

So there is a path from the current grid to one that is far cleaner and more resilient, but it’s not simple or quick. It would require melding complete and rapid restoration of power with a major infusion of capital.

Changing the base of generation from PREPA’s aging, inefficient fleet to clean sources is an essential part of this path. However, even at an extremely fast pace, it takes months to plan the economics, financing and engineering of this transition. More commonly, it takes years and careful economic and financial planning to raise the billions of dollars of capital needed and then spend it wisely.

A sustainable, resilient path forward

Puerto Rico’s citizens have endured great hardship and tragedy. We as a society certainly owe it to them to do whatever we can to lessen the damage from the next hurricane and speed power restoration. However, the path to a sustainable and resilient grid for the island is not as simple as air-dropping solar panels and other equipment onto the island and assuming all will be well. The suggestion that restoring power by replanting the current poles and wires will foreclose a more distributed solution isn’t correct, nor is it the most equitable way to restore power to everyone as quickly as possible.

This isn’t to say that the installation of fully independent solar systems and microgrids should be discouraged in any way. With the important provision that the hardware is maintained properly, the more solar and storage we can get onto the island sooner the better.

At this point, Puerto Rico’s grid is being rebuilt essentially as it was before.

But even as the grid is rebuilt as quickly as possible, the planning and engineering should begin on how to migrate the grid to smaller sections that self-island. This must include all the main aspects of power system development and operation, including financing, ownership, operation and maintenance of the systems.

The only logical way for Puerto Rico – and every other storm-prone electric system – to become a series of resilient and clean microgrids is to first get the entire grid functioning and then to create sections that can separate themselves and operate independently when trouble hits.

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Tesla Just Softly Killed Off One Of Its Newest Product

Tesla has retooled its strategy for selling people with solar panel on batteries to store excess energy before the company even sold its first units.

The electric automaker unveiled a new suite of batteries last May, called Powerwalls, for homes and business. However, it quietly dropped its 10 kilowatt-hour device, the larger of its two residential batteries. Originally marketed as a backup power supply in case of grid-wide blackout, the $3,500 unit wasn’t as affordable as two alternatives, especially given that solar panels are sold separately.

Instead, the company said it plans to focus on its 7 kilowatt-hour Powerwall, meant for storing excess solar energy generated throughout the day for utilize at night or when the sunlight isn’t shining.

“We have watched enormous interest in the Daily Powerwall worldwide, ” Tesla wrote in a statement emailed to The Huffington Post on Thursday. “The Daily Powerwall supports daily use applications like solar self-consumption plus backup power applications, and can offer backup simply by modifying the way it is installed in a home. Due to the interest, we have decided to focus entirely on house and deploying the 7 kWh Daily Powerwall at this time.”

The 7 kilowatt-hour Powerwall has yet to be released in the United States, though Tesla told HuffPost some have been installed in countries such as Australia.

The company never rendered 10 kWh batteries. It didn’t seem like they would ever become economical.

GreenTech Media’s Julia Pyper, who first has broken the news of the 10 kilowatt-hour Powerwall’s being discontinued, wrote:

Even at Tesla’s low wholesale price, a 500 -cycle battery simply doesn’t pencil out against the alternatives, especially once the inverter and other system costs are included. State-of-the-art backup generators from companies like Generac and Cummins sell for $5,000 or less. These companies also offer financing, which removes any advantage Tesla might claim with that tactic, as GTM’s Jeff St. John pointed out last spring.

“Even some of the deep cycling lead acid batteries offer 1,000 cycles and cost less than half of the $3,500 price tag for Tesla Powerwall, ” told Ravi Manghani, senior energy storage analyst at GTM Research. “For pure backup applications only 500 cycles, lead acid batteries or gensets are way more economical.”

The bigger challenge, however, will be changing the current energy rate structure in the United States. Here, energy is more expensive during the day, when solar panels produce energy, and cheaper at night. Utility companies will buy consumers’ excess solar generated during peak hours and recirculate it into the electricity grid, then sell it back at a cheaper night rate, when solar panels aren’t producing energy.

Therefore, there’s little incentive for people to use solar-storage batteries that hang onto energy during the day if they could be selling it at peak prices to the utility companies and buying it back later on the cheap.

“It only constructs sense for storage if it’s more expensive to buy electricity at night and sell it back during the day, ” Brian Warshay, an analyst for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, told HuffPost last May. “But most people aren’t on those types of rates.”

Even so, this year is expected to be a big year for energy storage as the electrical capacity of renewable energy sources in the U.S. reaches new heights.

“Emerging technologies, cost reductions and supportive policies will make 2016 a breakout year for energy storage, ” Philippe Bourchard, vice president of business development at the New York-based startup Eos Energy Storage, wrote in a recent blog post. “The industry will see major proclamations from utilities and developers considering major contracts and execution of large-scale projects, transforming the electricity grid as we know it.”

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