80% ally or 20% traitor? Individualized learning models. Wait, solar doesn't work as well in the heat either?
Give Regan's quote a read.
Now think it over.
Conservatives in this state are in a decided minority. Our concerns are ignored by the people running the state and the same can be said for multiple media outlets in this state.
Does it make sense that we'd be improving things by fighting each other? I hope you agree it does not.
Take a minute to focus on things that you believe other conservatives you know would agree with you on. My bet is the list would be pretty long when you think about it.
Now, extend that a bit and take a minute to focus on the things you believe everyone you know (regardless of political orientation) would agree on. Again, I bet you'll find the list is likely pretty long.
Now imagine what we could get done if we didn't snap at each other so much as work on what we could live with in the areas where we disagree.
A recent op ed on the individualized school model.
I do genuinely hope the sponsors take another run at this bill. As I say in my op ed, it won't work for everyone, but I think the more choice in education models we have, the better.
https://gazette.com/opinion/denver-columns/guest-column-for-some-individualized-learning-is-the-way-to-go/article_130b68ce-06c8-11ee-828d-7bbd060deb25.html
Solar panels don't work as well in the heat either?
I've posted in the past about how my solar generation (I installed an 11 panel array on my roof and have been running on all 11 panels since last year) dipped by about half over the winter compared to summer.
This makes sense: there's simply less sun (due to clouds and shorter days), and lower temperatures slow down all chemical processes.
If you're thinking, then, that summer ought to be rocking and rolling with SPED UP solar production, you're about half right.
More sun in the summer does boost the panel's output, but the higher temperatures, just like the lower, work against you. Solar panels are most efficient (and get their rating) at 77 degrees Farenheit. As you go above that, you lose output.**
Taking the numbers from the article linked below as a reference, the efficiency of converting solar energy to electrical energy goes down about 0.5% for every 1 degree Celsius rise above 25 degrees C (77 degrees Fahrenheit). So on a 95 degree F day, your panels have lost about 5% of their ability to convert solar to electrical.
Now, does this mean that the panels don't work? No. The lack of efficiency is also not a huge problem provided that the people who monitor our grid take it into account.
To give you a sense of what I mean, let me return to the article and pull a quote:
"Britain has started burning coal to generate electricity for the first time in a month and a half, after the heatwave made solar panels too hot to work efficiently. One unit at Uniper’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar coal power plant in Nottinghamshire started producing electricity for the first time in weeks on Monday morning, while another coal-powered plant was warmed up in case it was needed by the early afternoon. The National Grid turned to coal to generate electricity as a rush to turn on air conditioning and fans across the country during the heatwave led to a spike in demand. High temperatures over the weekend also reduced the amount of energy generated from solar panels. Output on Sunday was almost a third lower than a week earlier, despite temperatures climbing above 30 degrees Celsius across large parts of the country."
In other words, if we don't remember that high temperatures drop the ability of panels to make as much electricity as their nameplates say they generate, we're going to hit a double whammy problem: high demand due to heat and less-than-rated output. What fills in the hole if we are planning based on the 77 degree rating?
Renewables are great, but as I've said multiple times, we need full transparency on what they can and cannot do. We need full transparency on their benefits AND their limitations. And we also need time to adjust to how they work in comparison with what we have decades of experience with.
At least Britain kept their coal plants at the ready when they found they needed them. Apparently those running this state do not share their wisdom as we're all busy as beavers cutting down our coal plants and screeching about allowing any sort of baseline generation that might involve fossil fuels.
I sure hope that our state's policy makers and utilities are remembering to correct for the lack of efficiency from solar during the high heat of summer in their planning.
**I'm not an expert, but my guess is that the loss goes up with temperature because the resistance to the flow of electrons in the panels goes up with temperature. Electrical resistance goes up with temperature for the same reason it's hard to navigate your way across a dance floor while people dance as compared to when they're standing. Higher temperatures mean the particles wiggle faster and the electrons suffer more collisions.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/britain-fires-coal-plant-weather-185612922.html