[mini me]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

Whether you watched the clip or read the transcript makes no difference. You absorbed the material and then defended it at face value.

Germany 64 sunny days per year.

http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/sola...n-solar-power/

Michigan 170 sunny days per year;

http://www.bestplaces.net/climate/state/michigan

That ditz on Fox was wrong and YOU are wrong.

THAT's what my post meant.

Dave

So you pull data from two different sources for comparison, draw a conclusion, and tell me that I'm wrong? Cool.

Yes, I took it at face value, and then combined it with what I know and what I see. I know some folks in the energy industry, and they're trying to figure out ways to respond to a mandate from the Granholm administration that requires the utilities in MI to ratchet up the percentage of renewable or "green" energy sources that feed the grid in MI. From what I'm told, the consensus is that solar power is a non-starter, or at least several notches down on the list of viable solutions, due to the lack of sunny days. Maybe as the cost of building a solar generating plant come down, that will change.

Now, I'm no expert, and I've never asked that specifically why it works in Germany and not in MI. Your sources don't event cite the location of the measurements. Its like saying that the USA averages 170 days of sunlight per year, just based on measurements taken in MI.

And, for the record, I'm not "down" on solar. There are plenty of individuals / families around here who applied for subsidies and installed solar collectors, solar shingles, etc. They also can't disconnect from the Edison power feeds because of the variability of power that their home systems generate, but good for them that they are, on average, reducing their annual electric bill.

Power grids need constant and predictable sources of energy. Solar may be, at least around here, a way to supplement the grid. But solar and wind combined will not be replacing the coal-fired plants in MI any time soon.