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Hawaiian Electric submitted a proposal for seven giant solar farms, two of them on Big Island. They will include battery storage so excess power generated during the day can be used by customers at night. The combined energy generated will replace 1.2 million barrels of fossil fuel per year.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2018/10/26/...lar-farms/
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Interesting, I wonder how this will go. What will the CAVE people say about this?
*CAVE = Citizens Against Virtually Everything
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I looked up other protests against solar, the main ones are "blight on the area", "drives away tourists", "wasting precious farmland" and my all time favorite "we won't benefit from it personally".
I suppose if it's a solar farm it'll have to be on Ag land.
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I know if ol’ gypster were here he’d concoct some kind of conspiratorial fog-like speculation clouding the project’s actual intent with jibber jabber, such as:
With PGV out of service, the TMT will require a major new source of electricity for their multiple Death Star laser beams. HELCO is complicit in this scheme, with promotion of two major solar farms on Big Island. Why is it so important they include batteries for nighttime use of electricity? What will operate at night with electrical power besides everything on the island? The TMT.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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"wasting precious farmland"
Correct: all farmland is sacred, unless it's near the rail and therefore eligible for "transit-oriented development".
the TMT will require a major new source of electricity
It will take a very very long undersea cable to bring this electricity to the Canary Islands. On the plus side, no battery storage will be necessary.
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I want to know how many megawatt-hours of battery they are proposing, as I am skeptical about them having enough capacity to last "overnight" with any meaningful load. Most grid-connected batteries simply cover demand while backup generation is called online.
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https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/201...ig-island/
"Statewide, there are seven solar projects being proposed, all made possible with the help of battery storage.
Rosegg said the Hawaii Island projects would be able to store 240 megawatts together. That’s not enough to keep them supplying energy 24 hours a day, though it would help during evening peak hours, he said."
AND:
http://bigislandnow.com/2018/10/09/7-sol...otiations/
"On Hawai‘i Island, two projects totaling approximately 60 megawatts and 240 megawatt-hours of storage."
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Maybe can ration electricity on overnight hours since most people don't need it then anyway??
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Wow, that is massive! About equivalent to 2.5 hours of what helco customers generate on their rooftops during peak solar hours. I don't think that ratio would carry them overnight if solar was their only power source, but impressive nonetheless.
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I'm against it. Solar farms are too noisy. They disturb the peace.
