Category — Green/LEEDS

SUNPOWER in Silicon Valley leads in solar power technology.  Sunpower’s web site has a request for estimate, and free estimates, for all sizes and applications of solar power panels from milliwatt to megawatt.

The installation cost recovery time for solar panels may be just seven years as the price of electricity rises, and solar electric power decreases.

THE NEW YORK TIMES reports that Silicon Valley may become the nations source of solar power panels, producing more power per panel, with declining prices, following Moore’s Law. I agree. As OPEC oil producers find ways to boost the price of crude oil, and carbon energy becomes more expensive, including ethanol, solar power will become ever more competitive.

At the same time in Silicon Valley new solar technology is making more powerful solar panels at ever decreasing cost. Solar panels are after all silicon computer chips. Consequently, Moore’s Law applies.

It is likely that the output in watts will double, triple, quadruple, logarithmically, while at the same time the price of solar “chips” will rapidly decline by halves repeatedly.

If all homes in the US had solar panel roofs the US would be selling power to Canada.  When it becomes cost competitive, solar power could supply much more than 20% of the USA’s future energy needs.  If Silicon Valley becomes the solar panel capital of the world, the future of the economy of the Bay Area, California, and the nation will be bright.

LEADERSHIP in Energy & Environmental Design is a certification green buildings can obtain.  LEEDs sets standards for both design and energy efficiency in building construction.  As time goes on, expect to hear more about LEEDs.  I would like to hear more about cost effective building materials in this area, as well as recycled wood.

UNSEASONABLY LOW TEMPERATURES worldwide this winter are do to the Sun’s low magnetic field.

The technical information on the Sun’s low magnetic field over the last few years portends a mini ice age despite higher greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

I just wanted you to know why it has been cold, rainy, snowing, and your heating bill may have gone up.

SANTA CLARA COUNTY District Attorneys office has brought criminal charges against the Bissett family in Santa Clara for failing to cut down Redwood trees in their back yard that cast a shadow over their neighbor’s solar panels. Via Instapundit link to Environmental Republican.

Criminal charges? For not cutting down Redwood tress? Should anyone forget, the Nanny State has criminalized homeowners for the simplest civil conflicts rather than just imposing civil fines, or even using common sense. Cutting down a tree in your front yard in San Jose can land you in jail. It is the law. Failing to cut down a tree because of shade, at your own expense, can land a homeowner in jail.

Realtors Blog Storming the Santa Clara County Supervisors, and supporting the Bissett’s is a good idea. Realestateblocks will follow the story.