{"id":6630,"date":"2016-02-26T12:41:06","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T11:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630"},"modified":"2016-02-26T12:41:06","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T11:41:06","slug":"one-thing-learnt-week-solar-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630","title":{"rendered":"One thing we have learnt this week -solar wars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DSCN1669\"<\/a>“Solar wars” are breaking out all over the world.\u00a0 What are being described as solar wars are taxes or charges on individuals or businesses that have solar panels fitted on their properties.\u00a0 In Spain<\/a> the government has introduced a tax on all electricity produced by solar panels even if the power doesn’t go to the grid.\u00a0 To be fair systems under 10kWp are excluded.\u00a0 However systems of 100kWp have to donate their power for free to the grid and huge fines and inspections<\/a> are there for those who try to not declare their systems.<\/p>\n

The solar wars in the US are taking the shape of fines on people with solar panels.\u00a0 The latest is in Nevada<\/a> but as you will see in that link solar is under pressure in most US states.\u00a0 Most have utilities that have tried to charge owners of such systems.\u00a0 In some cases the monthly charges are quite substantial, wiping out the savings from the solar system.<\/p>\n

The reasoning behind both what is happening in the US and Spain (or at least the excuse) is that people have to pay for their systems’ contribution to the grid.\u00a0 Their argument is that using the grid as a battery has to be paid for.\u00a0 But is this really true.\u00a0 The evidence is mixed.\u00a0 Studies years ago here suggested high penetration of microgen would lessen the strain on the grid.\u00a0 Part of this is due to fact that fewer large power stations are needed.\u00a0 That said the distribution network owner in south west England and Wales has banned all new microgen recently on the basis that the grid is under strain.\u00a0 However, many of us think the real reasons are different.\u00a0 In the immortal words of Corporal Jones in a very different context “they don’t like it up them, they don’t like it up them at all”.\u00a0 The decentralised model threatens the utilities and they are trying to fight back.\u00a0\u00a0 We already pay for the grid maintenance in our bills and will continue to do so but the charges in the link above are excessive.\u00a0 Yes the grids were not designed for decentralised energy but the kind of charges being made cannot be justified.\u00a0 The time is near when solar will not need subsidy and when that time comes the mother of all fights will be on.\u00a0 There are two reasons why the utilities cannot win this one, the first is energy storage.\u00a0 The Spanish tax obviously has this in its sights as well.\u00a0\u00a0 The second is very large scale roll out means that there will be millions of angry people who are voters.\u00a0 Eventually the energy companies will have to embrace the new reality, becoming energy service companies rather than just energy production companies.<\/p>\n

Neil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Solar wars” are breaking out all over the world.\u00a0 What are being described as solar wars are taxes or charges on individuals or businesses that have solar panels fitted on their properties.\u00a0 In Spain the government has introduced a tax … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,17,176,1],"tags":[177],"class_list":["post-6630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy-costs","category-one-thing-we-have-learnt-this-week","category-solar","category-uncategorized","tag-solar"],"yoast_head":"\nOne thing we have learnt this week -solar wars - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630\",\"name\":\"One thing we have learnt this week -solar wars - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSCN1669-300x225.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-26T11:41:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSCN1669-300x225.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSCN1669-300x225.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"One thing we have learnt this week -solar wars\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/\",\"name\":\"The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil\",\"description\":\"Blogging by Neil and Andy about Peak oil and faith.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"One thing we have learnt this week -solar wars - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630","url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630","name":"One thing we have learnt this week -solar wars - The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSCN1669-300x225.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-26T11:41:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSCN1669-300x225.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/DSCN1669-300x225.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?p=6630#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"One thing we have learnt this week -solar wars"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/","name":"The oil lamp - shining God's light on peak oil","description":"Blogging by Neil and Andy about Peak oil and faith.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/b6f2831189b0d01294e9672bb540ba6f","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2070f70411f2eab27f08cd0b2332e27e3987c781423ecba6c16b575181ce2a6a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6630"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6630\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6642,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6630\/revisions\/6642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theoillamp.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}