Germany sets new solar power record, institute says

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/26/us-climate-germany-solar-idUSBRE84P0FI20120526

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Germany sets new solar power record, institute says[/font]

By Erik Kirschbaum
BERLIN | Sat May 26, 2012 2:02pm EDT

[font size=4](Reuters) - German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour - equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity - through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday, the head of a renewable energy think tank said.[/font]

[font size=3]The German government decided to abandon nuclear power after the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year, closing eight plants immediately and shutting down the remaining nine by 2022.

They will be replaced by renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and bio-mass.

Norbert Allnoch, director of the Institute of the Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) in Muenster, said the 22 gigawatts of solar power per hour fed into the national grid on Saturday met nearly 50 percent of the nation's midday electricity needs.

"Never before anywhere has a country produced as much photovoltaic electricity," Allnoch told Reuters. "Germany came close to the 20 gigawatt (GW) mark a few times in recent weeks. But this was the first time we made it over."

…[/font][/font]

[thelordofhell]

1. equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity

Or 18 time-traveling DeLoreans

&feature=related

[Confusious]

2. They still have one of the highest prices

for electricity in Europe.

about as 3x as much as the United States.

Now, while some of you may be able to afford that, you might as well throw me out onto the streets.

[kristopher]

3. It looks to me household use is subsidizing industry.

Did you notice that Finland's electricity price has been skyrocketing? Isn't there something happening in Finland with a nuclear reactor, cost overruns, delays...

And then there is this:

Power firms profit most from homes
Kyodo
A government study on profit structures at 10 power companies shows that the regional monopolies derive most of their profits from the regulated market for households while keeping down charges in the competitive market for big companies and other large-lot users.

Between fiscal 2006 and 2010, they earned 69 percent of their aggregate profit from households, which account for 38 percent of power sales by volume, according to the results of the research unveiled Wednesday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The revelation will likely add force to criticism of Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s plan to raise home electricity rates. Tepco, the country's biggest utility, is in bad financial shape. It faces growing fuel costs after shutting down its nuclear power plants amid the Fukushima disaster, and staggering compensation costs over the crisis alone.

Calls on the government to accelerate talks on liberalizing the power sales market may also intensify, but power companies may resist any moves for radical market reforms.

Hisa Anan, head of the...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20120525a1.html


http://www.democraticunderground.com/112716138

[intaglio]

4. That's right

and so is kristopher

To an extent household use is subsidising industrial use in Europe because suppliers offer lower prices per unit (kW) to bulk users and it is easier for the energy companies to skim (scam) the little guy.

Government subsidy though is primarily to the fossil and nuclear industries - at least according to this PDF
http://www.mng.org.uk/gh/private/nuclear_subsidies1.pdf

and the website associated http://www.energyfair.org.uk/

Awaiting halfling outrage ...

[JDPriestly]

5. The German economy is thriving. Solar energy means less imported energy, and

Germany has virtually no oil so every gallon they burn has to be paid for with their hard-earned trade currency.

If you really had to pay the full price for the oil you use -- that is if the prices you pay were not subsidized -- then you might be walking a lot more. We would have to reorganize our lives, but we might be better off in the end. Certainly, many of us would be less obese.