Solar Panels and Power Stations.       

There are over 300,000 homes fitted with solar panels of various capacities from 2 Kilowatts to 5 Kilowatts with a few over 5 kilowatts. (note; all kilowatts quoted are per hour).

Their total generation capacity is approximately 770 Megawatts. That is when the solar panels are ALL at their peak generation throughout the state.

Capacity is one thing actual generation is another. I have the capacity to run the 4 minute mile but my chances of doing that is very doubtful. The same applies to solar and wind generation. (more on that later)

 Most of the power generated from solar panels occurs when there is direct sunlight, a small amount is generated when overcast but of a low figure. The amount of peak power generation time is when the sun is well up, usually between 9.00 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. during the day. Before this it slowly increases then afterwards decreases. The solar panel rated capacity is very rarely achieved and the 5 kilowatt system averages about 3.7 to 4.2 Kws on a sunny day.

So on a sunny day you can expect the solar power to increase from zero to 3.7 Kws in the first   2 hours. Then falls off rapidly after 4 p.m to almost zero by 5.30 p.m.

This of course will vary between summer and winter but at best an extra hour in summer.

Ironically the summer heat affects the efficiency of the solar panels which decreases with high temperatures, so the best efficiency is gained in the cooler weather.

The power generated from these panels is only good for 6 to 7 seven hours on a sunny day but as the capacity is very rarely reached then the real optimum peak power is somewhere in the range of 600 Megawatts . After that you are importing power from the grid and relying on thermal generated power.

If that 600 Mws was a thermal power station you would generate 600 x 24 hours equal to 14,400 Megawatts. The solar panels would be approximately 7 hours by 600 Megawatts, totalling 4200 Megawatts a difference of over 10,200 megawatts. A very long way from a modern thermal power station’s 2640 megawatts output by 24 hours or 63,360 Megawatt output.

Also that 600Mws is only on sunny days which is arguably 85% of the time in Queensland.

So Paul, my old mate, NO these 300,000 solar panelled homes do NOT equate to a 1.5 billion dollar power station.

 Also there is no such thing as a ‘base load’ power station. That is allocated by system control to whatever are the most efficient units. Any power generation unit can be ‘base load’ although this is always allocated to the most efficient. All units can change load (rapidly if required) to control load and system demand.

Also the power station that would (and should be built) would cost over 2 billion dollars but these units would (or should) be 4 x 660 megawatts units (or larger), total 2640 megawatt power station, like Eraring Power station, Point Piper power station(2 units) and Bayswater power station in N.S.W., Highly efficient,  very reliable, flexible and clean.

 Queensland also has a 750 megawatt unit at Kogan Creek, the biggest in Australia.

The total solar power generated by solar panels input to the grid system is less that 1.5% and the total power they generate is less than 2.5% of power demand.

To the retail power distributors the input from home solar panels is a pain in the backside and does nothing for them.

But even though they only generate for a limited period of time Solar Panel power generation is the ONLY thing that the previous Labor government initiated that was any good. The rest of their so called ‘Solar initiatives’ were total disasters that we will pay dearly for, for years to come.

When the subsidised installation of solar panels was first initiated by the labor government they were expensive to install, approx. $15,000 or more for a 5 kilowatt system and in most cases even with a 44 cent tariff. They would take a long time to pay for and generally were not financially viable.( The cost of electricity per kilowatt at that time was less than 21 cents per kilowatt.)

Now you can install a 5 kilowatt system for $7000 or less and with the current tariff of 29.403 cents, they are a good investment.

I now have a 5 Kw unit installed and from 2 invoices I am saving $400-$500 a quarter or $1600 to $2000 per year. Thus the unit will pay for itself  in 3.5 to 4.5 years.

The present Government will only subsidise the installation of units up to 5 kilowatts. The latest power input tariff to the grid system is 8 cents which will change on 1^st July 2014. The previous subsidy of 44 cents that was created by the Greens and labour is absolutely insane.

This subsidy is over 500% more than the retail power distributors would normally pay.

Certainly on this refund tariff the power industry is subsidising this power to the tune of approx. 34 -36 cents a Kilowatt but this will come to an end when the 44 cent tariffs finishes in the not too distant future.

However this refund for the 44cent tariff is a very small amount of total power cost and would have little bearing on the overall cost of electrical power.

The 8 cents subsidy is more realistic.

But the power retailers are not stupid, if the power ‘feed in tariff’ is 44 cents they only pay you the difference between what power you import and what power you export.

But on the 8 cents a kilowatt rate they charge you for ALL the power you import and pay you 8 cents for ALL the power you export-NOT the difference as on the 44c tariff.

At the moment tariff 11 is 29.403 cents a kilowatt. So you have to export 3.67 kilowatts to pay for the one kilowatt you import.

Although there is a bonus from the input tariffs one should really look at the power you have saved at 29.403 cents a Kilowatt. That is where the real saving is. As for what size to get, always get larger than you think. It does not cost a great deal more but in the long run you are better off. For the average 4 people family (especially if they are teenagers- expensive to run!!)

 I would recommend a 5 Kilowatts system.

In summary, yes the 44c feed in tariff is being subsidised, but the 8 cent tariff is not.

We also pay the connection service fee like anyone else.

If people wish to complain about power generation; look at two things;

The ridiculous, expensive and useless carbon tax,  that was created by fools and dreamers and is doing immense damage to our industry and economy.

Also the highly expensive, totally unreliable, unstable, and  non-productive wind generators which cost billions of dollars with little output. On average their output is less than  20% of capacity.

Billions of YOUR dollars wasted. Money that could have reduced our deficit and minimised the threat to age pensions etc.

Terence Cardwell

      The Carbon Dioxide Scam.

No doubt after the recent cyclone Ita the alarmists will be coming out of the woodwork crying out that the sky is falling and the world is coming to an end. Along with the IPCC’s latest report, which had nothing new to report only to repeat the 1990s catch cries of rising temperature, rising seas, no rain, droughts, increased cyclones, people starving because they cannot grow food, melting Himalayan mountains, shrinking Arctic and Antarctic polar caps, dying polar bears, dying barrier reef, dying forests in Brazil and Indonesia, new records set hot, cold etc. etc.

They pump it out like an endless conveyor. But then again, why not?

This was all started by some clever people in the United Nations who worked out how to extract large amounts of money from governments all over the world.

Prior to this the United Nations had a great deal of trouble keeping its head above water and continually chasing countries to pay their obligations of money to the United Nations.

But since they ran this, the world’s biggest scam, they are literally rolling in money. Billions of dollars given by gullible and naïve governments, including Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd who handed over 57 billion of dollars of your money. Yet no one did anything about it.

No wonder they can afford all those websites pushing global warming/ come climate change.

Also the Climate change commission which was sacked, and then came back as a self- appointed not for profit (what a con) Climate Council led by the king of con men Tim Flannery.

 Another out of  the box, the Climate Authority. All pushing the scam and lies.

Tim Flannery for example has made many dire (the sky is falling) predictions but NOT one of them ever eventuated. He was the man than caused four states to spend over six billion dollars on useless desalination plants that have never been required and cost a million dollars a year each to maintain.

One wonders exactly what did they and their labor government cohorts get out of it. You can be sure it wasn’t just ’retirement’ which they probably welcomed with open arms so that they could enjoy the fruits of their labours.

The IPCC went on again about rising seas, like they did in 1993 and the seas have not risen 40mm and nor will it.

They said the global temperature will rise sharply, again just like they said in 1993. In fact it has drifted down fractionally over the past eighteen years.

They repeat that we must change to ‘clean’ energy just like they did in 1990. The result since then- an absolute catastrophic waste of billions of dollars spent on solar and wind energy that was an immense failure plus losses of billions of dollars given to the U.N.

The other experiments with roof insulation, hot rocks programme, clean coal power stations, Wind generators, solar farms and pumping CO2 underground, the Carbon tax and tax credits have all ended up as total disasters or complete failures. To the cost of more billions of dollars.

More money than our entire inherited deficit was spent on these, and tens of billions of dollars given to the United Nations. Your money!!!

Now they are buying carbon credits, so we can run our industries, from places like Nigeria who couldn’t give a damn what we do. But they are overjoyed at taking our money.

So what is the end result of all this?

Well we know it was supposed to reduce the manmade CO2 and thus prevent Global Warming and save the planet. Ooops I forgot that word didn’t work so now it is manmade climate change.

As if we don’t have a change in climate every day.

So what was the result of all these scams and billions of dollars after some 35 years.

ZERO. Nothing. The carbon dioxide content has risen fractional and the world’s average temperature has gone down slightly.

Every one of the alarmists predictions were miserable failures and never occurred.

The forests did not die, although they are being decimated by logging and palm oil plantations. But the alarmists and Greenies never did a thing about that.

The polar caps are the largest they have been for years; they also decrease in summer with the melting of the sea ice which the alarmists try to use as a proof of warming.

The barrier reef is in excellent condition overall but the greenies keep trying.

Cyclones and storms we have had forever and in spite of what the alarmists say they are actually less than the beginning of this century. If you doubt it have a look at the Internet graphs.

The list goes on but at the end of it all this false hypothesis depends on one thing only. All the above and other theories are caused by manmade (anthropogenic) carbon dioxide.

The whole hypothesis is like a inverted triangle where all these predictions are based on one thing -------man made carbon dioxide.

So if we prove that the hypothesis that manmade carbon dioxide is causing climate change is a lie and a scam then the rest of the statements become null and void.

No one questions that we have climate change—every day. Sometimes it is good. Sometimes it is bad. Other times it can be terrifying with even new records set.

But the clear and obvious factors will become apparent that we do not affect the weather with ‘Manmade’ carbon Dioxide and we can do nothing to control the weather.

Keeping in mind that pollution of any form is obviously objectionable but carbon dioxide is not pollution and is an essential part of everyday life. Although the alarmists take pleasure in saying it is- another weak deception.

According to the alarmists own figures the total carbon dioxide in the air was 360 parts per million and they say it has risen to 390 parts per million in 50 to 100 years.

What they don’t say is that the past record for atmospheric carbon dioxide is that it has continually been rising and falling over the past thousands of years. At times it has been five times greater than it is now with no detrimental effect whatsoever.

Let’s put this atmospheric carbon dioxide into perspective. We will be generous and call it 400 parts per million for simplicity.

Fill a 12 litre bucket with water and add a teaspoon full of water to that bucket. That is how much total carbon dioxide there is in the atmosphere---one teaspoon full.

But wait according to the alarmists that is not causing global warming –ooops –climate change.

No- it is only the carbon dioxide that is emitted by man that is causing climate change.—We have yet to find out the difference!!!!- must be the way we breath.

So how much is this manmade carbon dioxide- must be a lot.

Again using their figures, the atmospheric carbon dioxide increase from 360p.p.m to 390 p.p.m. we’ll round it off to 400 p.p.m. again for simplicity

So the atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased 40 p.p.m in 50 years or (point) .8 p.p.m. increase per year, again for simplicity we’ll bump it up to 1 p.p.m. per year.

Now that equates to CO2 world emissions  per year -one teaspoonful per 4800 litres of water.

This includes ALL carbon dioxide emitted , including trees, plants, volcanoes, oceans, animals, wells, manmade and another one they came up with recently- CO2 from melting ice that had gas bubbles in it.

 But according to the alarmists only the manmade part of all that is causing climate change. So what percentage of total CO2 emissions is manmade CO2.?

Again by the alarmists figures manmade CO2 is 4% of all emissions so now our teaspoon of water becomes one teaspoon per 120,000 litres of water. per year.

That is the total worldwide manmade CO2 emissions going into our atmosphere.

So how much of this does Australia emit-----1.5% of total world emissions.

So our final teaspoon becomes—one teaspoon per 900,000 litres of water from Australia..

Carbon dioxide is also being absorbed by trees and plants that then emit oxygen.

We breathe it in at 400 p.p.m. and breath it out at 1000 p.p.m.

Carbon dioxide is used in drinks, manufacturing, fire extinguishers, etc .and is a totally harmless.

 It is inert gas that has no more heat reflective or transference characteristics than many other gases.

If you still believe that alarmists are right go back and do the figures again. They speak for themselves.

Terence Cardwell