Big Week Coming Up for Arizona Solar
SkyPower
Solar energy will power America. Solar energy will power the world. It already is using stored energy from dead plants … but that is running out, hard to get and hard to convert and goofs up the atmosphere in a very deadly way. It’s all solar. The name may be different, but all of our power comes from the Sun (except nuclear that comes from atomic rocks).
Here in Arizona, power is raining from the sky. Come on over in July and sit a spell. You’ll figure it out. It’s actually more power than a person can take. It’s not enough to vaporize you immediately (think Venus), but it is enough to overheat you, dry you out and then kill you in a few hours. It’s a lot of power and if captured and distributed properly … well, you already know where this goes.
The fight over solar is over. Object if you like, but it’s already a fait accompli. The energy wars were fought last year and solar won. Now, it’s just a matter of what we are going to do about it. Here in Arizona, it’s pretty clear that we too are winners. We just need to recognize it and then do what winners do … exploit our advantageous situation. Use our Sun to make all the power we can and sell it to anyone that isn’t smart enough to do it for themselves or lucky enough to have the resource.
That will come. It will take time for folks around here to figure it out. They’d get it now if they read this blog, but they would rather stumble around until the answers whack them on the head. It just takes them a little time. We’re used to that around here.
So what happened this week? Well, the Arizona Corporate Commission met and decided what to do with solar for the next year. The funny part is that they still think that what they say will matter when in fact, it matters less and less with each passing year and each passing decision. It’s as if they put the solar train on the tracks some years ago, got it going and now still think they control it when it is going so much faster than they are and it’s all they can do to even recognize that it is still a train. This solar thing is no longer under the control of the Arizona Corporate Commission. They still think they have a say. By next year at this time, they will realize that they don’t.
They made some rules for this year and tried to flex their government muscle, but all that really happened is that the “solar players” began to figure out how to get around the ACC’s control and make tons of money without them. The politicos here have no idea what they have and certainly no idea what to do with it. The people, on the other hand do. Now that the government has made their stand and said that they want to stay on the sidelines, the industry can really get going.
We know that the State folks will not really be players, but they won’t get much in the way, either. They will support the industry a little for a short time more. They basically told the solar folks to get ready to grow without them. Too bad … it would have been easier to have the government’s support.
This solar train is on a roll. The Arizona Corporate Commission just got off a few stations too soon.
Original Article on Skypower
Jay Leopold, Founder and Director of SkyPower Corporation, Scottsdale, ArizonaJay is one of the few guys who studied solar engineering back in the70’s. He earned his engineering degree from the University of Michigan,and back in those days solar engineers went into the computer technology industry. Jay did just that. He started and operated one of Chicago’sfirst microcomputer companies, and he had a great run of it for morethan 30 years. When the time came for him to make a change, he decidedto utilize his education and training in the field of solar engineering.It didn’t take long to see that solar electric power wouldn’t work in cloudy Chicago, so in 2005, Jay and his wife Sara, moved to Arizona tostart SkyPower, a leading-edge solar electric business. Today, thecompany is poised for substantial growth in the renewable technologyindustry. SkyPower is positioned to drive solar electric to theforefront of everyday use in family homes and businesses alike.Jay is known for his keen engineering mind and wry sense of humor,which surface in your first conversation with him. He is the formerradio host of “The Renewable Power Hour” which aired Saturday’s on KPHX1490 Radio in Phoenix.Articles l Homepage