Kentucky Coal Museum converts to solar power

tay

Hall of Fame Member
May 20, 2012
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Resistance is futile..........


"We believe that this project will help save at least eight to ten thousand dollars, off the energy costs on this building alone, so it's a very worthy effort and it's going to save the college money in the long run," said Robinson.

The work began Tuesday to power the energy, not by coal, but by the sun.

"It is a little ironic," said Robinson, "But you know, coal and solar and all the different energy sources work hand-in-hand. And, of course, coal is still king around here."

Robinson said the project was funded through an outside foundation. It cost thousands of dollars, but Tre Sexton, the owner of the company installing the panels, believes the result will pay for itself.

"I think everybody knows when we're talking about attractions like this - these high-volume, low-traffic municipal attractions - something has got to give, to keep their expenses down," said Sexton.

Sexton said, an average house could be run by 20 panels. That would cost somewhere in between $17,000 and $20,000, but would pay off within five to seven years.

"Of course, in the current economic times we're in, anyway to save money is always appreciated and helpful - especially when that's money putting back toward teaching our students," said Robinson.

Kentucky Coal Mining Museum converts to solar power
 

DaSleeper

Trolling Hypocrites
May 27, 2007
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Northern Ontario,
Religious fanatics at it again....




 

Jinentonix

Hall of Fame Member
Sep 6, 2015
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Olympus Mons

tay

Hall of Fame Member
May 20, 2012
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Note that $29.10 per MWh is 2.91 cents per kilowatt-hour. For context, the average U.S. residential price for electricity is 12 cents per kWh.

Stunning drops in the cost of wind and solar energy have turned the global power market upside down.

For years, opponents of renewable power, like President Donald Trump, have argued they simply aren’t affordable. The reality is quite different.

Unsubsidized renewables have become the cheapest source of new power — by far — in more and more countries, according to a new report from the United Nations and Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

In just one year, the cost of solar generation worldwide dropped on average 17 percent, the report found. The average costs for onshore wind dropped 18 percent last year, while those for offshore wind fell a whopping 28 percent.

“It’s a whole new world,” Liebreich said. “Instead of having to subsidise renewables, now authorities may have to subsidise natural gas plants to help them provide grid reliability.”

How cheap are renewables now? The report lists “a hectic series of milestones for declining costs” taken from actual auctions around the world in 2016:

https://thinkprogress.org/renewables-cheapest-new-power-globally-74910c78bbbe
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
41,030
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Red Deer AB
Why would the coal industry not go geo-thermal? They already have a network of caves to act as a heat sink or cold box for use 'later'?

Uhhh yeah. Sounds more like a closed-loop hydroelectric power plant. Only this one requires an alternate power supply in order to actually function.
How about Israel come up with a Dead Sea Battery and that would solve the electricity problem for the Mid-east,the EU and Africa is one stab? Just sayin, . . . .
 

Bar Sinister

Executive Branch Member
Jan 17, 2010
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