The nice sunny weather we have been having reminded me of the solar panels that were installed on the roof of the East Columbia branch library back in mid-2008. Ken Ulman was a driving force behind the panels and made a great deal in the media about them. The panels cost $45,000.
This website shows how much power the panels have been generating in real time. During the past year (June 2009-May 2010) the panels have generated 5,464 kWh of juice. According to BGE, the price per kWh is under 11 cents. This $45,000 "investment" in solar panels produced $600 worth of electricity last year, which is a return of 1.3%. At this rate, it will take about 75 years for the panels to pay for themselves.
Wow.
Solar panels absolutely, positively, do not make any economic sense but for the government subsidies given to those people who install them. This is why it's so amusing to see Ken Ulman and Martin O'Malley dressing themselves up like construction workers in order to promote solar panels and make it look like they are doing something for the environment. Being more concerned with perception rather than reality is in the job description of politicians.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Nice post, FM.
First time i've ever read this blog, bravo sir. Bookmarked the blog.
Thanks, anon. Just doing my part to inoculate the masses.
If you're new to the local blog scene be sure to check out Tales of Two Cities and HoCo Rising as well.
FM - why did you delete the earlier comment? I thought it was rather funny.
PZ, I want the bar set higher than that. There is nothing wrong with being gay, there is something wrong with being a socialist politician. There's more than enough merits to attack Ulman and O'Malley on without resorting to name calling.
Bravo.
Oh, and thanks!
FM - I don't think it was name calling per se, nor an affront to gay people, but rather a funny take-off of the SNL skit with the same-named characters.
Anyway, you're right that there are plenty of issues with their records. Hopefully one or both of them will be gone come November!
Oh, I didn't get the SNL reference since I haven't watched that show since it stopped being funny :-)
That's a skit from about 15 years ago - just before SNL stopped being funny.
Post a Comment