One of the pleasures in life is being known as having knowledge that might help folks and they ask... because any nerd will tell you sharing knowledge is one of their fav things to do.
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I mean, I have solar in Pennsylvania and it totally works economically for me, so if I can make it work in PA, I can't even imagine how it *wouldn't* work in the high irradiance zones -- this is why the utilities are desperate to handicap it there, and they'll absolutely collude with corrupt politicians (hello TX) to make it seem like it's not "economical" (which is a lie)
@susankayequinn I live in Ireland. The entire contiguous USA is further south than we are. Our weather is notoriously shitty. And people still have solar panels here in Ireland because even here they work.
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every time I look at a solar irradiance map of the US, I think
"everyone in the red should have solar, every last person"
"the electric companies are terrified of this"
@susankayequinn i'm in a more wisconsin-ish area climate-wise and putting solar power on our roof was the best decision we ever made (well, doesn't say too much...)
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@susankayequinn I live in Ireland. The entire contiguous USA is further south than we are. Our weather is notoriously shitty. And people still have solar panels here in Ireland because even here they work.
@rozeboosje exactly!
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I mean, I have solar in Pennsylvania and it totally works economically for me, so if I can make it work in PA, I can't even imagine how it *wouldn't* work in the high irradiance zones -- this is why the utilities are desperate to handicap it there, and they'll absolutely collude with corrupt politicians (hello TX) to make it seem like it's not "economical" (which is a lie)
@susankayequinn Technology Connections has a thorough rebuttal of the idea that solar is somehow impractical -- and it doesn't even talk about climate change. Solar is the right choice, even for purely economic reasons, and anyone saying otherwise in 2026 is either lying or not paying attention...
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@susankayequinn Technology Connections has a thorough rebuttal of the idea that solar is somehow impractical -- and it doesn't even talk about climate change. Solar is the right choice, even for purely economic reasons, and anyone saying otherwise in 2026 is either lying or not paying attention...
@luxliquida 100%!
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@luxliquida omg I clicked that link and the very first ad is from an oil company and how you can "buy bonds" in it!
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I mean, I have solar in Pennsylvania and it totally works economically for me, so if I can make it work in PA, I can't even imagine how it *wouldn't* work in the high irradiance zones -- this is why the utilities are desperate to handicap it there, and they'll absolutely collude with corrupt politicians (hello TX) to make it seem like it's not "economical" (which is a lie)
@susankayequinn I remember how groundbreaking was Mark Z Jacobson's report more than a decade ago (2 decades?) showing how to build out renewables in the US and beyond to supply all the energy we need.
https://thesolutionsproject.org/ is born of his work at Stanford. How that project evolved over the years reflects the lack of political will and how--as you say--the changes happen at the local level from the ground up.
Thank you for all you do to support the changes we need!!!
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I mean, I have solar in Pennsylvania and it totally works economically for me, so if I can make it work in PA, I can't even imagine how it *wouldn't* work in the high irradiance zones -- this is why the utilities are desperate to handicap it there, and they'll absolutely collude with corrupt politicians (hello TX) to make it seem like it's not "economical" (which is a lie)
@susankayequinn also, can we just appreciate how close the two ends of that scale are? The "<4" is pretty open-ended and I'm sure there's specific places with dreadful numbers, but overall you're not looking at a 10x difference in irradiance between the best and the worst places in the continental US. "Oh no, we'll only get two thirds of the free energy people in ideal conditions get! The horror!"
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@susankayequinn I remember how groundbreaking was Mark Z Jacobson's report more than a decade ago (2 decades?) showing how to build out renewables in the US and beyond to supply all the energy we need.
https://thesolutionsproject.org/ is born of his work at Stanford. How that project evolved over the years reflects the lack of political will and how--as you say--the changes happen at the local level from the ground up.
Thank you for all you do to support the changes we need!!!
@BrightFlame @susankayequinn need to get them on the fediverse.
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@susankayequinn also, can we just appreciate how close the two ends of that scale are? The "<4" is pretty open-ended and I'm sure there's specific places with dreadful numbers, but overall you're not looking at a 10x difference in irradiance between the best and the worst places in the continental US. "Oh no, we'll only get two thirds of the free energy people in ideal conditions get! The horror!"
@bujold that's an excellent point! I will will make sure to point that out when I share this graph in the future!
I like it because it *feels* correct to people's experience of sunnier/less sunny places... but pointing out the scale is an excellent way to shift that perception!
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@luxliquida omg I clicked that link and the very first ad is from an oil company and how you can "buy bonds" in it!
@susankayequinn Yeah, Google seems very happy to be a tool of rampant destruction and misinformation...
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
