https://www.kitv.com/story/41175702/oahu-residents-hold-peaceful-protest-against-wind-turbine-project

I agree with the protestors.
HECO should max out rooftop PV then go wind. HECO should spend the money on energy storage.

https://www.kitv.com/story/41175702/oahu-residents-hold-peaceful-protest-against-wind-turbine-project

I agree with the protestors.
HECO should max out rooftop PV then go wind. HECO should spend the money on energy storage.

  Ditto!

https://www.kitv.com/story/41175702/oahu-residents-hold-peaceful-protest-against-wind-turbine-project

I agree with the protestors.
HECO should max out rooftop PV then go wind. HECO should spend the money on energy storage.

Why should they max out solar first? I think a balance makes sense given that wind can produce throughout the day.

Energy storage is important too though. I had a great idea on a simplle way to store energy but turns out its already a thing.

Where can I buy a Hawaiian flag with an upside down bat?
Or should it be a right-side up bat? Thimk about it.

Problem is, HECO is not going to pay for your solar panel installation or be responsible for the penetrations to your roof.
1 acre solar puts out much less than 1 acre solar and the land beneath wind can still be used for ag farming or grazing while the solar panels are 100% use of land.
 Plus the wind mills do not run every day as they (HECO) limits the amount of energy they can produce.
Life spans may be similar, but the disposal of solar panels is much worse for the environment.
Don't get me wrong, I like solar, but wind gives more options.

As for ""What other community on O'ahu is surrounded by this many monster turbines?"
Got me there, only the "WINDWARD" side.

Problem is, HECO is not going to pay for your solar panel installation or be responsible for the penetrations to your roof.
1 acre solar puts out much less than 1 acre solar and the land beneath wind can still be used for ag farming or grazing while the solar panels are 100% use of land.
 Plus the wind mills do not run every day as they (HECO) limits the amount of energy they can produce.
Life spans may be similar, but the disposal of solar panels is much worse for the environment.
Don't get me wrong, I like solar, but wind gives more options.

As for ""What other community on O'ahu is surrounded by this many monster turbines?"
Got me there, only the "WINDWARD" side.

... not to mention the free fertilizer produced from the huge number of rotting birds that flew into the turbines.

... not to mention the free fertilizer produced from the huge number of rotting birds that flew into the turbines.

That problem has actually been minimized from what it used to be. The instances with high bird death were in certain locations and with certain structure types that were more likely to hit birds. Still happens some but not as bad as it used to be.

That problem has actually been minimized from what it used to be. The instances with high bird death were in certain locations and with certain structure types that were more likely to hit birds. Still happens some but not as bad as it used to be.

List your sources that make that claim.

My reading tells me there are efforts to map bird migration paths and move/shut down temporarily certain turbines in those paths, but

QUOTE

Given the short period of time that the maps and forecasts have been online, it's too soon to tell whether they're
having a beneficial impact. But the researchers are hoping for good results. Says Horton, "We really want to see
some conservation come out of this, hopefully to reduce some of the mortality."

Major difference between your conclusion and that of the experts.

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/wind-energy-takes-toll-birds-now-there-s-help-ncna866336

With more than 50,000 wind turbines in place across the U.S., wind power now accounts for 8 percent
of the nation's energy-generating capacity — and experts predict that figure could rise to 20 percent by 2030.

But all that clean, renewable energy comes with a high cost to the nation's wildlife. Researchers estimate
that 140,000 to 328,000 birds are killed every year in collisions with the turbines' spinning rotor blades and
support towers. The risk to birds is highest at night, when the blades and towers are cloaked in darkness.

just paint one Hawaiian flag upside down on each windmill
problem solved   

just paint one Hawaiian flag upside down on each windmill
problem solved   

....
Brilliant!
Put one flag on each blade. The ultimate diplomatic solution.
If you were running for governor, I would vote for you.

....
Brilliant!
Put one flag on each blade. The ultimate diplomatic solution.
If you were running for governor, I would vote for you.

but i'm not a democrat, so I think I would lose.   

... not to mention the free fertilizer produced from the huge number of rotting birds that flew into the turbines.

Wind turbines kill between 214,000 and 368,000 birds annually — a small fraction compared with the estimated 6.8 million fatalities from collisions with cell and radio towers and the 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion deaths from cats, according to the peer-reviewed study by two federal scientists and the environmental consulting firm West Inc.
TREEHUGGER.COM
According to the current literature somewhere between 140,000 and 328,000 birds die each year from collisions with wind turbines.
smithsonian.com and Audobon Society

With more than 49,000 individual wind turbines now exist across 39 states, that's about 4.5 birds per year per turbine.
I probably hit 2 per year with my car.

Pv on the other hand
    As a renewable energy sources, solar energy has intermittency issues; not shining at night but also during daytime there may be cloudy or rainy weather.
    Intermittency and unpredictability of solar energy makes solar energy panels A less reliable a solution.
    Solar energy panels require additional equipment (solar inverters) to convert direct electricity (DC) to alternating electricity (AC) in order to be used on the power network.
    For a continuous supply of electric power, especially for on-grid connections, Photovoltaic panels require not only Inverters but also storage batteries; thus increasing the investment cost for PV panels considerably
    As mentioned, land-mounted PV panel installations require relatively large areas for deployment; usually the land space is committed for this purpose for a period of 15-20 years – or even longer.
    Solar panels efficiency levels are relatively low (between 14%-25%) compared to the efficiency levels of other (Wind) renewable energy systems.
    Though PV panels have no considerable maintenance or operating costs, they are fragile and can be damaged relatively easily; additional insurance costs are therefore of ultimate importance to safeguard a PV investment.

  I am around these towers weekly (could it with thrown stone) and rarely hear them, never seen a bird strike, still have all my hair and my junk works.
On the other hand, just down the road I see acres of PV consuming grazing land falling into dis-repair,.

I heard that a lot of times the birds and bats do not actually have to hit the turbine but just come close enough for the low pressure wave to knock them unconscious.

But regardless

There is no green energy solution that will replace fossil fuels. The only long term effective way to cope with their scarcity is to decrease demand. Pretty much everything else is a subsidy scam to get free money from the government.

I’m in a project now where the EIS/NEPA folks are debating impact of relocating a fence to the protected hoary bats. I am all for protecting natural and cultural resources, but there needs to be a common sense approach. It’s relocating an EXISTING fence. So if the future risk is similar to current state. I’ll tell you what, this project can’t move forward with eliminating the fence.

Impacts are very much real. However, there are always impacts. It’s not NO impact, which people tend to misconstrue or take to foo far an extreme.

HECO has a monopoly on HI for many decades.  I have friends in the mainland who have PV and sell back energy to the energy company to make a profit.  Why can't we do that here?  Oh yeah, because HECO is the only energy supplier.  This is also why cost is so high.  My friend in Vegas runs his AC all day and night.  Monthly electric bill is $70.  There is so much competition that rates are lowered so the companies can get business.

On a separate note, the same people who are saying global warming this, ban plastic that, don't want wind towers.  Tree hugger logic at it's best.

HECO has a monopoly on HI for many decades.  I have friends in the mainland who have PV and sell back energy to the energy company to make a profit.  Why can't we do that here? Oh yeah, because HECO is the only energy supplier.  This is also why cost is so high.  My friend in Vegas runs his AC all day and night.  Monthly electric bill is $70.  There is so much competition that rates are lowered so the companies can get business.

On a separate note, the same people who are saying global warming this, ban plastic that, don't want wind towers.  Tree hugger logic at it's best.

Well, there's more than one answer to that question.

#1 - if you jumped onboard the solar train when it left the station, you were under the Net Energy Metering (NEM) tariff program.  That program charges a minimal $18 administrative fee plus whatever NET energy use you had that month.

If you have enough solar panel generation capacity (i.e. number of panels) relative to your energy use that month, you sell back your excess solar produced in the daytime to offset the energy used from the power plant at nighttime or on cloudy days.  The majority of those solar customers rarely pay more than the $18/month because they ARE selling back energy to HECO.

HECO pays less per kWh for the energy you export to the grid than they charge for per kWh for residential customers.  So, the amount of excess solar kWh customers produce must be more than the kWh they consume from HECO to avoid paying about the monthly minimum.  Make sense? 

When HECO first created the NEM program, they estimated the grid can handle about 20% solar buy-back.  Think about it.  The grid has to be balanced, since electricity they produce isn't stored.  They have to generate and distribute as much electricity as homes and businesses need on a constant basis. The grid can only handle so much electricity. 

On a cloudy day, HECO still has to deliver 100% of the energy the island needs.  That means they have to maintain the capacity to generate the 20% that solar customers normally produce.  That cost includes generators running, because, as we saw after that earthquake, it takes some time to start up an idle generator and bring it online.

#2 - After HECO hit the 20%, they slowed the residential solar approval process for new installations.  After a while, they started allowing new solar customers to connect to the grid, but the programs they are under didn't pay them for their excess energy like the original program.  Many people were stuck waiting for approval, saving on their electric bill during the day, but paying for nighttime use -- with no "buy back" to offset their bills.  Eventually, HECO came up with new programs that require additional equipment on the customer side to export energy to the grid.


So, the short answer is there ARE MANY PEOPLE on Oahu selling their excess solar energy to HECO and paying next-to-nothing for their non-solar use. 

The new programs have the option to export excess OR STORED energy to the grid for a rebate, but the equipment to do so costs the customer more.  The programs have various caps on the amount of energy you can export as well as varying prices HECO will pay per kWh you export.

The new minimum for billing solar customers is now $25.

https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/documents/products_and_services/customer_renewable_programs/programs_bill_and_credit_HE.pdf

I hate cleaning bird crap off my car every day
the less birds, the better 

I hate cleaning bird crap off my car every day
the less birds, the better

So you're going to be pro 5G then right?  Test sites in many spots in the UK have killed the birds in the area.

Japan rejects 5G
Israel rejects 5G
Many UK countries reject 5G

#tinfoil

So you're going to be pro 5G then right?  Test sites in many spots in the UK have killed the birds in the area.

Japan rejects 5G
Israel rejects 5G
Many UK countries reject 5G

#tinfoil

if that means less bird crap to clean, i'm all in!   

Where can I buy a Hawaiian flag with an upside down bat?
Or should it be a right-side up bat? Thimk about it.

I know a company that prints the Hawaii flag upside down.