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Aaron Turpen    May 16, 2012 - 5:21PM

In reply to by Paul Scott (not verified)

I live in Wyoming. Bitter cold and the hail we get regularly (just had a huge storm last week) make solar untenable. No warranty from solar makers covers that kind of damage. We do (and I have) wind power, but that's only useful when there's enough wind to run it. Most PV panels are warrnated for 10-25 years, depending on which ones you're looking at. The kind that would be useful here (non-silicon "mattes" for metal roofing) have only 10 year warranties. Panels lose their capacities over time as well.

Our utility doesn't have a renewables program because there are no wind generators a part of our electric grid. Every electron goes to California (Wyo produces about 1.3GW annually and growing). Our power is from a natural gas plant, however, and is extremely cheap. Our monthly electric is usually $40 or less.

With the drive into civilization being 45 miles each way and the availability of plug-in parking being non-existent, an electric car is not viable here. Which is why I call for diversity. We have natural gas in abundance. East of us on the other end of Nebraska is serious soybean country (the source for most biodiesel). North of us are coal and gas deposits that are considered the largest in the world.

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