NYTimes news story [RE-wrenches]

[mlafferty at universalenergies.com]

Allan & Brother Wrenches:

RE: > it can produce 500 kilowatts of energy, enough to power about 500
homes.

Oh, Oh.  I feel a sermon coming on!

The fur on my back really gets raised when I read this stuff.  Blood
boils.

Whose homes?  The "Average American"?  I think not!  Heck, I KNOW NOT!

Let me take a guess.... That is 500KWDCpeak, too, huh?

The "average" home in Urban America uses more than 24 ACkWH per day...
Do the math!  24 kWH x 30 days = 720 kWH per month.  Multiply that by 12
and you get 8640 kWH per year..... How many 1KW PV Systems,
Grid-Connected or otherwise, do you know of that produce that kind of
energy?  Hmmmmmm?

Did I hear me right?  8640 kWH per year per KWAC PV?  Yep!  I heard me
right!  (I personally average about 375 kWH per month.... Multiply that
by 12 and you still get 4500 kW per year!)

I CANNOT wait until somebody comes up with that Module / Inverter
Combination!  Let me guess... It's gonna be a Concentrator mated to a
500% efficient inverter and the salesman won't return your call!

I hope it is very well understood by all readers that I am Pro-PV!  VERY
Pro-PV!

I care about our future more passionately than most of you may know!
Part of that passion, borne of scars earned in battle, includes a very
real (on my part anyway) understanding that we cannot allow "false
expectations and promotion" to be the death of Grid-Tied PV!  (If only
this was in Rich Text Format you'd hear me so much better!  Hell, you'd
probably even see the spit flying by right now!)  It is strictly due to
these factors that I share this here.

We simply MUST be responsible in the way we market, promote, design, and
install our stuff!  If we are to achieve "mainstream" status, we can't
afford to do anything less!

I'm not in any way trying to imply that a Wrench had anything to do with
this statement.  I sure hope none did!

When battles are fought on behalf of us all and our children, the
"anti's" use these types of unrealistic statements against us... At
Regulatory and Legislative levels!  It is real and current.  We are
forced to continuously fight wars because of this crap!  It might make
for "good press", but it sure don't make for a future!  FACT!

Oh sure, "When the Sun, Moon and Stars are all aligned for a single
instant in time that every house miraculously had everything turned off"
it might generate the offsetting KW!

I will take this "opportunity" to once again state my position that WE,
AS AN INDUSTRY, need to settle on a common language!

Don't ever lose site of the fact that the Customer buys AC kWH when they
pay their electric bill each month!  Please keep this in mind as you
market and sell your stuff!

KW, AC, DC, STC, PTC, Impp, Voc, Isc, Vmpp, NOCT, Mono, Poly, Asi, CdTe,
Csi,CEC, KWAC, KWDC, Module, Panel, Inverter, Disconnects, Combiners,
Fuses, Mult-Contacts.. None of those matter to the end-user..
Particularly as we grow and PV becomes a true appliance!

The Industry needs to get real about this fact and stop hiding behind
those terms.. We need a common language!  One that the Consumer can
easily understand!  This language is $/ACkWH, plain and simple!

Module Manufacturers sell at STC DCpeak (Nameplate) with a +/- 10%
fineprint note.  What the heck is that?  They'll be owned by somebody
else in 10 years!

Inverter Manufacturers sell at Peak AC Power Output Capacity and quote a
"peak efficiency".... I don't quite know how to slice that one fairly,
other than a "System Configuration by System Configuration" basis based
on multiple installations of each one and the monitoring that must occur
to accurately determine the truth.  

When do any of these things happen at the same time?  When you find that
perfect Glass:Inverter match, perfect slope, and the Customer gets up on
the roof and washes the glass on the perfect day?  With nice cool, clean
water?

Contractors are all over the place and, in many cases VERY confused
themselves.. "Who do I believe?  How come the system isn't making the
power they said it would?"  I hear it all the time!  Some Contractors
sell based on Nameplate Glass STC Wattage because they think that's what
they're buying because that's what their Module Manufacturer Rep tells
them and/or it makes their "$/kW" look better.. Some try to be honest
and sell at CEC KWAC.. These guys get screwed when the slickster comes
in and shows the Customer his bogus STC $/kW and totally unrealistic
"payback".

Nobody even calcs in BOS losses.. Everybody that even tries to let the
Customer know what kind of kWH they can expect prints out some Website
Based Production Projections based on old 30 year NREL weather data and
Per KWAC system size.  Environmental conditions in 2003 are having
negative, but as of this writing unquantifiable, impacts on the true
production numbers.  I look at the kWH Production on over 850 PV Systems
every single month. I'm working to isolate determinable data-entry,
equipment related, and other factors to help achieve reality in this
area.  I cannot wait until this work is done, although it will take
quite some time, so the truth is factored in.  Once it is, the true
benefits and value of the "Environmental Aspects" of a PV system will be
quantified and worth real $$$$ in very real 21st Century Markets other
than PV!

There's so much more, but I'm sure you're all tired of reading by now.
Besides, I have to get back to work!

Peace, Sunshine and, as long as this crap continues,

I'll continue to Play the Lotto, Play the Lotto, PLAY THE LOTTO!

Matt Lafferty
Universal Energies Institute
mlafferty at universalenergies.com
(916) 422-9772
(916) 628-7694 Cell
(916) 914-2247 Fax
www.universalenergies.com

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