From the Pragmatic Environmentalist of New York
I recently covered an article by Ken Girardin who broke the story of New York’s latest attempt to shore up public support for the Climate Leadership & Community Protection Act (Climate Act). In brief, the New York State Energy Research and Development Agency (NYSERDA) are hiring a public relations outfit, using $500,000 per year of public money, to “maintain a positive narrative” and “respond to negative viewpoints” about the state’s Climate Act. This article shows the likely result of that effort – NYSERDA’s Think You Know Solar – Take the Solar Quiz.
I have followed the Climate Act since it was first proposed, submitted comments on the Climate Act implementation plan, and have written over 400 articles about New York’s net-zero transition. I have devoted a page to solar issues that describes my concerns with solar development in New York. The opinions expressed in this post do not reflect the position of any of my previous employers or any other organization I have been associated with, these comments are mine alone.
The Climate Act established a New York “Net Zero” target (85% reduction in GHG emissions and 15% offset of emissions) by 2050. Despite the enormous impacts to energy affordability, threats to electric system reliability, and mandates affecting personal energy choices I believe many New Yorkers are unaware of the law. In 2023 transition recommendations were supposed to be implemented through regulation, Public Service Commission orders, and legislation. Not surprisingly, the aspirational schedule of the Climate Act has proven to be more difficult to implement than planned.
Solar Quiz
On March 21, 2024 I received an email announcing the Solar Quiz. This link is the web view version. In the rest of this section, I respond to its contents.
The quiz opens with the obligatory picture of roof-mounted solar panels.
The cheerful opening introductory paragraph leads off with the narrative: “free and abundant light” gives us electricity” from this “incredible clean energy technology”.
You may already know that solar panels convert the sun’s free and abundant light into electricity. Pretty great, right?
So, we thought we’d give you a quick quiz to test your solar smarts. Let’s see how much you really know about this incredible clean energy technology.
Sunlight may be a “free” energy source but there are costs to collect and use that energy. That detail must be in the next quiz which will come out when the geothermal energy source from Hell freezes over.
The entire Climate Act legislation and narrative is characterized by black and white cartoon descriptions. Consider the first quiz question:
Q: Do solar panels work on cloudy days?
A: Yes!
Because the panels collect light, they still function on cloudy days even though efficiency is somewhat reduced.
“Somewhat reduced”? A negligible amount or a lot? Let’s take a look at the potential range.
Their illustration:
My illustrations of today’s views from the NYS Mesonet Buffalo meteorological station. This site is notable because it is surrounded by solar panels. I am not sure how much that affects whether the meteorological data collected are representative but it does let us address the question of solar variability on this worst case condition – cloudy and snow covered.
Buffalo March 23, 2024 14:15:28 UTC or 10:15:28 EDT
Buffalo March 23, 2024 17:20:27 UTC or 13:20:27 EDT
Here is a graph of the temperature (red, orange), dew point temperature (green), and solar insolation (yellow) over the last seven days ending 23 March 2024 at 16Z or Noon EDT. Regrettably the parameter of interest is in yellow.
Note that solar insolation is 170 watts per meter squared (W/m2) at 10:15 EDT in the first picture and 420 W/m2 at 13:20 EDT the time of the second picture. Reasons for the difference include the tine of day because the second picture is closer to solar noon and the clouds are darker which could mean they are thicker in the first picture. It would be interesting to see the effect of the snow on the panels if data from that solar facility could be obtained.
To guess the effect of clouds I looked at the last seven days of data from the same site. I have put arrows on the peak solar insolation for the last six days. Presumably there were three days without clouds because the solar insolation exceeded 800 W/m2. There were two days when the peak insolation was around 500 W/m2, one day when the peak was no more than 350 W/m2, and on the most recent day it appears that the data from the daily graph peaks a little over 400 W/m2. I guess the point is that even on a cloudy day solar power is “Somewhat reduced” to half and does not go to zero. I am sure that some power would be generated even when the panels are covered by snow but the reduction sure is more than “somewhat” reduced, closer to nearly zero is my guess.
Of course, solar is zero at night. Not to worry the solar quiz addresses this.
Q: If I have solar panels, will my house still have energy at night?
A: Yes.
Solar-powered homes collect excess energy and pass it to the grid for future use, and if you don’t have excess energy stored you pull energy from the grid at any time, like when it’s dark. Another option for night-time energy use is on-site battery storage, which collects excess energy and saves it for when it’s needed.
This is egregious misinformation. The electric system instantaneously balances load and generation. Any excess energy passed to the grid has to be used at that time or stored. In my opinion the worst subsidy for residential solar is the unacknowledged cost to provide grid energy when the sun does not shine. Somebody else is paying for the infrastructure (storage or alternative sources) necessary so that solar-equipped residences can “pull energy from the grid at any time”. Inevitably the “net-metering” rules will have to be changed so this subsidy is reduced or eliminated. The mention of on-site battery storage is a start, but the reality is that the largest reliability cost is associated with extreme conditions and providing enough solar panels and energy storage to start to address that problem is uneconomic for an individual. If this was not the case, then folks would be going off the grid entirely.
The next question has no interest to me:
Q: When was the first solar panel installed?
A: In 1883, by American inventor Charles Fritts in Manhattan.
Solar energy (the photovoltaic effect) was discovered in 1839 by Edmond Becquerel, a French physicist who studied light.
The next question is relevant. Consistent with the rest of the quiz the answer provides no nuances or specific information.
Q: How long do solar panels last?
A: About 25 years
The efficiency of solar panels decreases over time. However, a lot of factors contribute to lifespan, such as weather, installation, maintenance, and quality.
The narrative answer is that “most residential solar panels should operate for 25 years before degradation (or reduced energy production) is noticeable.” The National Renewable Energy Laboratory notes that “the rate of degradation is typically around 0.5% to 0.8 % per year but varies among different types and brands of solar panels.” If I define “noticeable” degradation as a 10% loss of efficiency, then at 0.5% per year the degradation is noticeable at 23 years and at 0.8% per year the degradation is noticeable at 15 years.
The next quiz question addresses solar panel land use.
Q: What is it called when land is used for both solar panels and agriculture?
A: Agrivoltaics
In some places, farmers are experimenting with grazing livestock (solar grazing), growing native grasses, and even fruits and vegetables around solar panel installations.
Sounds great. Note that they did not talk about agrivoltaics in New York. There is a reason. The State has set up the New York State Agricultural Technical Working Group to address this in New York but there has been no progress mandating this approach. As I will explain in the following discussion, I am unimpressed with that effort.
The last question in the quiz manages to get in a bit of bragging.
Q: Which U.S. state is the top community solar market in the country?
A: New York!
As of December 2023, more than two gigawatts of community solar have been installed in New York – enough to power nearly 400,000 homes.
Of course the point that they can power 400,000 homes only when the sun is shining is unmentioned.
New York’s Disgraceful Solar Implementation Record
So much for the quiz. How is New York’s solar implementation policy going?
I believe that the development of solar resources is considered above all other concerns which will not end well. I submitted comments on the Draft Scoping Plan two years ago calling for a moratorium of utility-scale solar development because the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (Ag & Market) policies on solar energy projects that protect prime farmland were being ignored and programs designed to protect prime farmland and reduce impacts were being developed but not implemented. Two years later the policies are still being developed and I estimate that 20 projects have permits to construct and only seven meet the Ag & Markets policy.
In their comments for solar project applications the Department of Ag and Markets prepared testimony has noted that “The Department’s goal is for projects to limit the conversion of agricultural areas within the Project Areas, to no more than 10% of soils classified by the Department’s NYS Agricultural Land Classification mineral soil groups 1-4, generally Prime Farmland soils, which represent the State’s most productive farmland.” The lack of a responsible solar implementation policy has meant that of the 20 projects with applications only seven meet this criterion as shown in my Solar Project Scorecard. These results show that it is possible to protect prime farmland, but that New York State has failed to mandate that all projects meet the reqirement. As far as I can tell, there are no provisions in any of the permitting requirements that mandate farmland protections consistent with Department of Ag & Markets recommendations.
If there are no specific requirements for protecting farmland then what about other mitigation strategies. One responsible solar siting mitigation strategy would be to combine agriculture and solar land use – agrivoltaics. Last October, the report Growing Agrivoltaics in New York was released.
The report outlines the results of a limited literature review to advance understanding of opportunities for agrivoltaics by reviewing New York State’s current agricultural landscape; the current situation of agrivoltaics pilots and programs; and solar design considerations related to integration of agricultural activities and solar power generation. In aggregation with additional State efforts to understand land-use implications of large-scale solar (LSS) development, results inform potential future actions to provide education on best practices for implementation of agrivoltaics projects in New York State.
The report provides good background information. It includes a good description of the permitting process. It mentions the New York State Farmland Protection Working Group which was formed in 2021 “to consider and recommend strategies to the State on the siting process of major renewable energy facilities and to minimize the impact of siting on productive agricultural soils on working farms”. It also notes that additional agrivoltaic research has been proposed. They managed to come up with a definition:
A simultaneous use of land for solar photovoltaic power generation and agricultural production of “crops, livestock, and livestock products” as that phrase is defined by Agriculture & Markets Law (AML) §301(2).
I am unimpressed because the report is long on research recommendations and short of any sign of urgency to implement anything.
The fact is that the drive to install as much as possible as quickly as possible is affecting agricultural lands across the state and local communities. One of the readers of my blog, Lenny Prezorski from the Cold Spring Farm in Schoharie County recently wrote me a note. The following is a lightly edited version.
Schoharie County like much of rural NY, is losing prime farmland to solar development. One project is under construction and another is seeking approval from ORES.
Last week our state and local officials held a news conference at the Salisbury dairy farm which adjoins the NextEra East Point solar project in the Town of Sharon. A number of impacts were discussed. This news article details those concerns. For example, the highway superintendent has been fighting with solar contractors since the project started. His efforts to correct the damage to town roads have fallen on deaf ears in Albany. Despite the claims from the developer, they continue to do as they may with no oversight.
On the same day as the news conference our local newspaper ran an article noting that the property for the project was up for sale. The article notes that the parcel has “1,100 acres on a working, income-producing farm, with a log cabin home, and “seeping vista views” stunning views of both the Mohawk Valley and Catskill Mountains.” However, There’s just one catch:
Three hundred thirty five of those acres, across eight parcels, are covered in solar panels as part of NextEra Energy’s 50-MW project mostly off Route 20 and Gilbert’s Corners Road, but also Pomella, Beech and Sakon Roads.
Coldwell Banker is listing the site at 485 Gilberts Corner Road for $15,350,000; the listing went up February 20.
The site, according to the description “is one of the largest working solar farms in all of New York State, secured by a 25-year lease with guaranteed lease payments totaling in excess of $20 million.
“This property portfolio consists of over 1,000 acres of farmland and solar arrays on eight separate tax parcels—including a working farm with barns and residences.
“The largest portion on this income-producing portfolio is from the 25-year lease on the solar panels, covering 355 acres.
Prezorski continues:
How deep are the pockets that these projects can be sold, I assume at a profit, before they are complete? I understand that Rock District Solar in the Town of Carlisle has been sold 2 or 3 times and it hasn’t even received approval.
It is too late for the Town of Sharon but it hopefully isn’t too late for the proposal in Carlisle.
Prezorski describes problems with the accelerated permitting process.
Rock District attempted to get local approval from the Carlisle Planning Board. During the public comment period I submitted a detailed report which exposed errors and omissions in the Environmental Assessment Form. Once appraised of these facts they immediately withdrew their application from the town and submitted it to Office of Renewable Energy Siting. I’ve prepared a report which primarily focuses on the loss the prime farmland and potential impact to groundwater resources in our karst landscape.
The EAF located the project in the wrong watershed. It neglected to document that runoff from the site flows directly into a sinkhole which feeds the longest cave system in NYS. The application submitted to ORES contains the same erroneous data. How do we ensure that NYS follows their own laws? This is the question I posed to our local leaders and to you too.
Unfortunately, I do not have any answer for the question how do we get the state to follow our own laws.
Concluding Remarks
The Think You Know Solar – Take the Solar Quiz is an example of mis-misplaced priorities of the Hochul Administration. The cute little public relations quiz demonstrably misinforms the public. Sunlight may be a “free” energy source but the costs to collect and use that energy are ignored. While it is encouraging that solar panels can generate electricity even on cloudy days the implications of reduced output are not addressed. Claiming that solar panels last for 25 years ignores that they are also expected to generate 10% less power in a shorter period. Finally, the answer to the question “will my house still have energy at night?” displays a lack of understanding of how the electric system works and downplays the enormous challenge and costs to provide that energy that are not covered by residential solar owners.
Meanwhile, back in reality the article describing the local stakeholder concerns with the state’s control over solar farm projects describes what is happening away from Albany. As noted previously, the developers are affecting roads and not fixing damage. The state is over-riding local code enforcement and safety issues are evident. In order to expedite renewable development, the State has implemented new permitting requirements that over-ride landowner rights and local government control.
I believe that this situation has led to a disgraceful solar siting process. Despite assurances prime farmland is not being protected. Proponents of “responsible solar siting” that includes things like agrivoltaics are long on talk and promises of more research but short on urgency to do anything to implement something. Prezorski explained that the expedited permitting process is enabling errors that could have significant consequences. Finally, the state has no requirements that the solar developments are constructed to meet the Scoping Plan performance expectations. As a result, even more solar development will be required to meet the generation and capacity requirements.
No amount of public relations investment to spin stories to be consistent with the Hochul Administration narrative are going to be able to hide the reality of the disgraceful utility-scale solar siting policies. Those policies are going to cause much more harm than acknowledged by the State.
Oil and coal and all other energy sources are also free and abundant. It’s making them useful that costs money. They never mention that, or how much more expensive the conversion is for wind and solar.
When your intent is to deceive, telling your marks the whole story doesn’t fit in with the plan.
Oil and coal and all other energy sources are also free and abundant.
And remember Oil & Gas is under much of western and central NY, its just not allowed to be drilled, fracked or harvested by this same state government.
Solar energy is free, so are petroleum and natural gas. Extraction, refinement, and delivery are the costs, just as in so called “free” renewable energy.
All this wasted effort based on a fantasy. It is no joking matter but easy to laugh at the collective lunacy behind all this nonsense.
I gather sensible people are departing NYS in large numbers. They will need a fence around the State to keep the lunatics in the asylum to prevent them taking their insanity elsewhere.
Australia has a chance at achieving NutZero but the grid will be just a shadow of what it is now. All heavy industry gone – not much remains now. Of course it relies on China trading solar panels and wind turbines for coal and iron ore. If they stop playing that game then no chance.
There is a reasonable chance China will stop playing the iron ore game.
If it was $100 to deliver that $30 toaster from China instead of “free shipping”, it would reinvigorate manufacturing and employment worldwide…just sayin’…..
“more than two gigawatts of community solar have been installed in New York – enough to power nearly 400,000 homes.”
Population is what… 8, or 9 million. !
A tiny pittance, even when the sun shines full-on in summer.
Winter.. a total non-supply. !
A winter of discontent…
The population of NY state is about 20 million.
–Story Tip—
Harvard Shuts Geoengineering Project To Preserve Climate Narrative.
But critics argue that even studying the possibility of solar geoengineering eases the societal pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions. They also fear such research could create a slippery slope that increases the odds that nations or rogue actors will one day deploy it, despite the possibility of dangerous side-effects, including decreasing precipitation and agricultural output in some parts of the world.
I know solar…. and it’s better 1000 miles south of us. That’s why we go abroad for holidays etc
I love the idea of a magical 100% renewable grid doing this
“Solar-powered homes collect excess energy and pass it to the grid for future use, and if you don’t have excess energy stored you pull energy from the grid at any time, like when it’s dark.”
On a windless night in mid winter.
I Use the UK grid generation data as a national weather check. The last couple of days have been not particularly sunny or windy across the country.
“farmers are experimenting with grazing livestock (solar grazing), growing native grasses, and even fruits and vegetables around solar panel installations.
That kind of agriculture will never happen without vast subsidies.
And do they really mean AROUND the installations and not in them?
Obviously, they mean “around”! I’ve not seen a single “solar farm” with spacing between rows of panels that would allow for mechanized harvesting, or even efficient manual harvesting of “fruits and vegetables”. On the contrary, most solar panels are low enough that even “native grasses” or weeds could shade them if allowed to grow up among the panels. Which begs the question: “How is the natural vegetation managed and controlled within the farm?” Roundup, anyone??
I’ve seen a photo from Germany – from several years ago- showing a German farmer wearing lederhosen with his sheep inside the solar farm.
Look at how fast the “Volunteer” trees and shrubs commonly used in landscaping around homes. like cedar, pine, crabapple, etc. take over the right away along the interstate highways, if not trimmed several times a year the panels will be in shade before fall. My summer job, while going to college, was trimming this growth by hand. It does not appear that even the typical home lawn tractor could mow the area between these panels.
If they used a few mirrors they could cook the lamb insitu
Eat our solar superpower exhaust skeptical folks-
Australia is ‘never’ going to be able to compete with China on solar panel manufacture (msn.com)
That’s pure Hopium you’re sniffing laggards.
Similar to the previous article about the NYSERDA quiz, the author missed an opportunity to point out that PV efficiency is a completely different beast from power delivered to a real load.
Q: How long do solar panels last?
A: About 25 years, or less than an hour if hit by a hail storm. (See Fighting Jays solar farm in Texas, Scottsbluff Nebraska solar farm.)
The “lifetime” of a PV module turns out to be a very nebulous quantity that depends on one’s point-of-view. A hail storm, of course, ends the debate when the power drops to zero in short order.
Yes, and what happens in severe wind storms/tornados lightning strikes and grass fires? Perhaps solar farms will replace trailer parks as primary targets of bad weather.
Those mounting racks have to have lots of grounding wires.
“maintain a positive narrative” = propaganda. ‘Ignore the man behind the curtain’ is necessary only when reality doesn’t support your narrative.
Fools push ahead where wise men fear to tread. New York is too far north for solar. The New York Governor has issued a Proclamation reminding citizens of Inter Galactic Solar Power Month…fly your Solar Flags and march in unison to the solar beat…..celebrate!
That 0.5 to 0.8% per year doesn’t include the degradation of the glass that is covering the panels.
As to sharing land between solar panels and agriculture.
I don’t know of any crop that grows well when it is in shade most of the time.
BTW, I wonder what the efficiency of a solar panel is if it hasn’t been washed in a few months? Or shortly after a flock of birds flies overhead?
Look up “PV soiling”:
https://aurorasolar.com/blog/understanding-pv-system-losses-part-3-soiling-snow-system-degradation/
Bwhahahahahahahahahahaha!!! 90% is now “somewhat”?
Aren’t fraudulent claims that harm consumer affairs in New York State punishable by tort by State Attorney General?
Not when they are being made by government, or someone supported by the government.
Government needs to be as far removed from power generation and transmission as possible. Government is unreliable, dishonest and worse unaccountable. Get them out now, when they are removed our problems go away.
My solar story:
in Jan 2015 I went live with what was supposed to be a system that would essentially make my (FL) home electricity independent. 20 solar panels (240 kW each), a solar assisted heat pump which had a separate “radiator like” device on the roof which was designed to increase the SEER from 18 to 24 and a solar water heater. The first year I had $0 electric bills for 4 months and a total electric bill for the year of approximately $365. Most of my neighbors were paying about $100/mo less than that year total. I felt it was pretty good and was pleased.
Second year and unbeknownst to me at that time, there was some issue with the “solar assisted” heat pump and the company sent a technician out to get it working again. What was unknown to me at the time and I only found out about 3 years ago was that that technician disconnected the rooftop solar collector from the compressor because it had leaked and they couldn’t repair it. So that part lasted me about 13 months.
When that part went bad my bills changed and I was now down to about 2 months a year of “free” electricity.
In-between or during the intervening years, I had periodic problems with inverters going bad. They were Enphase inverters. The company that had sold me the system and installed everything had gone out of business somewhere about 2 & 1/2 years after the installation. So I had to find another company to monitor and fix anything that needing fixing. And I did. The solar company I found (and still use) contacted Enphase to get replacement inverters which were free but they charged me to install them. (And I don’t consider this unreasonable just wanted to point that out.)
About 18 months ago my solar water heater, one of the tanks cracked and this is not something that was able to be replaced. So I got a new hybrid water heater. So that part of the solar lasted about 7 years.
So over the years my ROI went from 6.5 years to about 7.5 to 9 then with what I did last year, I dropped the whole ROI intent. And last year our electricity company decided that to stay connected to their grid it would be a minimal cost of just about $31/mo. So you produce all your own electric and give them surplus you still have to pay. And I was informed that state regulations WILL NOT allow you to disconnect from the grid and they are not allowed to disconnect you from the grid.
So last year I decided that I wanted “guaranteed” electricity in the event we get hit with another hurricane. So my solar company engineered a system that should take care of our electricity needs regardless of what our electricity company is doing. We lost electricity once before for 3 days after a hurricane (we had the solar panels at the time but couldn’t use the electric) and I did not want a repeat of this.
I contracted with the company for additional panels and battery backup. They installed 10 440 kW panels and 3 Tesla power walls. Everything went live in November 2023. Just last month through their monitoring of the system they reported to me that two of my original panels have gone bad (I verified that looking on Enphase’s system) so they found replacements and they carted them off to whatever land fill they use – oh well.
So bottom line: I never did the system d/t any belief I was “going to do my part to save the planet” because I don’t believe in any of that crap. My initial intent was to keep my electric bills reasonable and if possible non existent but given that so many things have changed over time including the electric provider being able to charge me just to be hooked to the grid, that became an impossibility.
So the system has become a system designed to keep mine and my wife’s electricity needs constant regardless of what happens to the grid. So far we’ve had a couple brief outages and the only reason I noticed them was because the internet went out but electricity stayed on so the switch over was so fast I didn’t notice it. Rec’d a 30% tax credit on everything which made it a bit more manageable.
I think solar can be useful for a homeowner in an area that gets a lot of sunshine but for a national policy or even a solar farm for a utility I think it is ridiculous. But my system is really to insure continuous electricity for us as there is a medical situation that prompted my decision.
I read the quiz and concluded that the author didn’t have any real world experience with solar. I have had many cloudy days where the panels had zero production. I also tracked the output for many years and graphed them over time to see if there was a reduction in output. But the data with all the “noise” in it (inverters that went bad, panels that underproduced, then quit producing, a period of over a month when I had to remove the panels to put down a new roof on an adjacent area) showed that for the most part the output was fairly stable.
Will be interested to read any comments.
What rate were you paid for electricity being dumped on the grid vs electricity you had to buy from the grid.
If you are thinking of this in terms of ROI, ROI went down the drain more than a year ago. When I first looked into this the kW charge was 10.433 cents per kW for the first 1000 hours, then it went to 12.675 cents per kW for anything over 1000 hours used in a month. Those were the charges when I started with the solar assisted heat pump and solar hot water.
when the panels were installed (about 5 months later) the first 1000 hours went to 11.324 and 13.686 for over 1000.
Last year they stopped showing the fee differences for less than 1001 kW and over 1000 but now added an asset securitization charge. Their current billings don’t show any per kW charge. My last bills that were w/o solar were last from July 2023 through Oct 2023 as all solar was off roof for roof replacement then installation of the old and new system which went live in Nov 2023. My Sept 2023 bill was for 1277 kW at 15.288 for first 1000, 17.232 for over 1000 and an asset securitization charge at 0.233 for each kW regardless of use (so for all 1277 I used. Plus they charged me $12.51 just for the pleasure of being a customer of theirs. Now and since Nov 2023, I have no kW usage and even carry a kW balance forward, they charge me $30.79 for that pleasure of being their customer. That is another reason I said ROI is almost pointless now.
ROIs make no sense if the parts you cannot control are able to keep moving the goal posts. Since I’ve never had a surplus for a year or even more than four months (until now – 5 months and counting) I don’t know what they might have to pay me – though I know it will be much less than they charge users. I was told that 12 months is the period you need to get a check from them though that goal post is probably movable too. So far with the current system installed I’ve had essentially zero and a carry over of kW since November. Because FL has so much roof top solar (I was the first in a 184 home development and now at least 25 to 30 have systems) I wasn’t surprised when my electric provider was able to secure from the legislature the ability to charge just to remain connected. And being a free market supporter, I don’t blame them for that since they have to provide electricity no matter what and they have their infrastructure to support.
As I noted in my previous post, now it is done primarily to secure electricity in the event of an outage as there are medical needs. A relative of mine in another state went with a Generac with a large propane tank. So if he actually experiences any long term outage he’ll have electricity until he runs out of propane while as long as the sun keeps coming out I’ll have it indefinitely.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/ex-chrysler-ceo-ev-startups-not-going-make-it
story tip