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@antipodean I'm not against anyone making a profit. But the full costing of their activities needs to be accurate.
If the cost of rehabilitation for a mine site makes it unprofitable, then it was never profitable. The taxpayer ends up footing the bill.
A carbon price makes a lot of sense, if implemented correctly. Might even mean nuclear.
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@NTA said in Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view:
@antipodean I'm not against anyone making a profit. But the full costing of their activities needs to be accurate.
** If the cost of rehabilitation for a mine site makes it unprofitable, then it was never profitable. The taxpayer ends up footing the bill.**
A carbon price makes a lot of sense, if implemented correctly. Might even mean nuclear.
Is that true? Given the hoops that mining companies need to hop through to get approval (not to mention the very high cost associated with this process) I find it hard to believe that the taxpayer exclusively picks up the bill.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel sample article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-05/coal-mine-rehabilitation-cost-could-hit-taxpayers/10463302
It isn't everyone, but unfortunately not all the environmental costs are taken into account, or the companies can go bust before the full cost of rehab is covered. Under NSW law at the time of that article (Nov last year), refilling the mines isn't a requirement.
It becomes a sticky point as the purpose of the mine is done, profit is no longer being generated, and a quick change of details and the company doesn't exist any more.
As for the hoops: they exist but so do building approvals, and we've got apartment blocks in both Olympic Park and now Mascot cracking and showing signs of structural integrity.
Anecdote: as a kid we used to drive up and down the New England highway a bit, and through the Hunter Valley you could see evidence of the coal mining (trucks, conveyors, power stations at Vales Point etc) but never really the mines. Recently I drove back that way and they've started coming over the hill toward Singleton in a way that was a bit shocking.
However, it isn't as shocking as if you take the Putty Road and end up around Denman and get a good look at the pits themselves. Lot of coal dug up around there, with whole hillsides etc. missing that you aren't going to backfill no matter what you do - there simply isn't enough dirt to cover it.
It isn't easy to govern this sort of thing, particularly for long-running mines like those in the Hunter Valley.
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Evolution of different solar cell technologies. Multi-junction PV's are going to hit 50% efficiencies soon
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@NTA said in Ashes 2019:
@MajorRage said in Ashes 2019:
@NTA 40 up here is 50 down there fella .... Take your pick!
We're all pretty much fucked at this point. I'll buy some land up in the high country with what remains of a water supply.
Move to Canada? 4 seasons, loads of fresh clean water?
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@MajorRage said in Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view:
@NTA said in Ashes 2019:
@MajorRage said in Ashes 2019:
@NTA 40 up here is 50 down there fella .... Take your pick!
We're all pretty much fucked at this point. I'll buy some land up in the high country with what remains of a water supply.
Move to Canada? 4 seasons, loads of fresh clean water?
Or New Zealand
In any case, best not to think about it too much, or worry about petty shit.
EDIT maybe even the feedback loops will get too much for even those places to hold, or overpopulation and migration to those areas will destroy them anyway. @TeWaio probably has a better handle on all that.
Once we're reduced back to Hunter-gatherer status the place can recover.
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@NTA Well, if climate change is your thing, I'm no sure a country that exposed to the ozone free summer sun is a place to be. My 70 year old Mum doesn't go outside during summer between 11 and 4 anymore.
But I don't know enough to really comment further than that.
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I got a quote a few months back from HRV Solar, to get 6kW of panels put on my roof. I think they are a partnership with Vector for solar.
Anyway, I should say was a partnership not are, as I just got an email stating that effective immediately, they have ceased that business and any quotes are now invalid.
I'm spending too much money on a kitchen and bathroom refurb anyway, so maybe can look at options again towards the end of next year.
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@Stockcar86 Try Harrisons -or do it yourself. I'm DIY this time around.
Are you north facing? Pitch of roof? 6KW isn't really enough for most households.
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Going to resurrect this as I need some info.
Does anyone have any experience with self powered tracking arrays of PV panels? Maybe you @nta?
Obviously I want to get the most out of the panels and I have heaps of space so wondering if anyone has used them either commercially or residentially. I'm not sure what the pitch is on the new roof although it will be north facing, so might work O.K. but you can get large productivity increases with tracking.
More moving parts and maintenance, but at least it is ground level.
Dunno.
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@Snowy I don't have a lot of experience with this personally BUT I know that you've got 2 added levels of cost: ground mounting and panel tracking.
At commercial sizes - where you're ground mounting anyway, the extra cost of tracking isn't such a burden to IRR.
But for domestic users? Hmmmm... Depends on the situation.
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@Snowy trackers are very site specific. Solar in general is. Some sites you're better off cramming in fixed axis, others suit spacing them out with single or dual axis trackers. I wouldn't have thought that they'd make sense on a domestic north-facing roof though
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@voodoo said in Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view:
@Snowy trackers are very site specific. Solar in general is. Some sites you're better off cramming in fixed axis, others suit spacing them out with single or dual axis trackers. I wouldn't have thought that they'd make sense on a domestic north-facing roof though
Not all of it is. 1930 bungalo with add ons and a complex roof structure where I could have east, north, and west facing panels which doesn't seem very efficient. I have done that one before and was looking for better solutions. I'll know more when the house is on site and I have pitch and orientation.
Maybe just fixed, but an array that isn't roof mounted? I can clean them easily too.
@NTA Is ground mounting really more expensive than roof?
Solar Power and Storage - a nerd's view