Solar Farm Being Built In "Sunny" Buffalo, New York -- October 27, 2015

Quick: what retail store is the largest retailer in the US by number of stores?

Kohl's.

Kohl's is the largest U.S. department store chain by the number of stores, with around 1,200 as of February 2013. Why would I care?

Apple updated its Apple Pay participating issuers list today, adding Kohl's as the first U.S. retailer accepting store-branded cards that offer discounts and rewards. The department store chain confirmed on Twitter that iPhone users can make purchases using Kohl's Charge Cards on Apple Pay starting today.

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Cuomo For President Of The World

 Updates

October 27, 2015: before reading the story below about the huge solar farm being built in "sunny" Buffalo, New York, go back and read this story about the success of the solar farms built in the "sunny" suburbs of Minneapolis. This was the beginning of that post:

Apparently, "everyone" from the reporter to the engineers were surprised about the relative lack of sunshine in Minnesota, or at least the lack of predictability. [Note to engineers: the days get shorter in the winter in Minnesota. It's been that way for millenia.]

In Minnesota:

A state mandate requires investor-owned utilities to generate 1.5 percent of electrical power from solar by 2020, one way or another.

So, they have a "Twin Cities solar power demonstration" but it looks like there wasn't a lot of pre-planning.

“We’ve seen pretty significant output differences between December and June and July, which is anticipated, though I guess we didn’t have a firm concept of how large of a difference that might have been, when we started the project,” said Andy Bergrud, senior engineering project manager for Great River Energy.

Don was kind enough to provide the number of "sunny" days in the following cities (he provided the links if anyone needs them, just ask):

• Jordan, MN: 197
• Maple Plains, MN: 193
• Maple Grove, MN: 196
• Buffalo, NY: 155
• US Average: 205
• Bowman, ND, yes, Bowman, North Dakota: 214 
• Las Vegas, NV: 294

Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Original Post

 

From the folks who ban fracking, will now put up solar panels in the snowiest city in the US. The New York Times is reporting:

On the often cloudy shores of the Buffalo River, where a steel factory once thrived, lies the rising framework of one of New York’s most ambitious economic endeavors ever: a giant solar panel factory that the state says will be the largest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has committed up to $750 million to the project, the biggest economic development effort he has undertaken in his five years as governor. 

In doing so, he has not just bet big on solar energy, a competitive and rapidly growing business, but also on the success of SolarCity, a fast-growing California company that will operate out of the factory that the New York State will own.

The potential benefits seem substantial: The state has said the 1.2 million-square-foot SolarCity factory, which is scheduled to open in early 2016, will create 5,000 jobs, with 3,000 of them in western New York.If the demand for solar power grows, and the companies the state has attracted are able to capitalize on that, then it could be well positioned to profit.

Companies lured to New York by generous state grants have created jobs, often in struggling regions or cities like Buffalo. The government hopes a virtuous cycle will follow, and public money will attract private investment.

Memo to self: check back on this story in five years. LOL. And the taxpayers will pay for this boondoggle also. Promoted by Elon Musk.

I can't find a solid estimate for the cost of this solar farm but it sounds like about $6 billion. Someone said SolarCity will be investing $5 billion in the project and the state about a billion works out to $6 billion / 1,000 MW = $6 million / MW -- about what I would expect. Solar remains the most expensive energy out there, even more expensive than off-shore wind. Buffalo, of course, is noted for its sunny days. LOL.

Cuomo: preparing for his 2020 presidential big. Hillary will be 73 years young by then ... or something like that -- I think she will be 69 when she votes next year ...