San Onofre Nuclear Plant is Closing !

By choice, I just installed a small power plant on top of my home.

 

Yup, I installed a starter-sized solar system and turned it on just over two weeks ago. The holiday crunch delayed inspections, but those are done and it is just waiting for the utility's official production meter. I had another meter on hand (submetering the water heater circuit), so it was moved to the PV meter socket so this production time is not completely wasted.

I'm guessing this installation will produce 15-20% of the house's annual consumption, but it is producing some net-zero days now during peak-solar / no-heating season. It is intended to be expanded over the next couple years, after getting some production data under the local climate and shading impairments.

A considerable amount of home conservation preceded this solar system, and a bit more is still planned.

Your poll does not include hydro, the predominate energy source in my region. I have no problems living near a hydro plant, as long as I'm not in its failure flood plain.

 

Glad they shut the plant. It was unsafe.

I am pro-nuclear, but we need to phase out these 1st and 2nd generation reactor designs.

That's the problem. Nobody wants it in their own backyard! Same here, I don't want reactor towers as my view instead of my current snowy mountain peaks (yes still snowy even with 80F days in June).

But I do have 4 panels at home and planning to put on a total of 5KW to 10KW within the next 2-3 years.

 

No contractor, did it myself. The solar installers I talked to were booked up for several months, past the June 30 expiration of a state incentive. I wanted it sooner, both due to a busy summer calendar, and to start collecting production data for this non-ideal site before the Solstice.

A tiny (50W) off-grid system was up there for nearly two decades. Its intended expansion just never happened. Then this spring's reroofing project (which was hired out) set up a nice window of opportunity, so I jumped for it on very short notice. Several years of barely-skimmed issues of Home Power instantly turned quite valuable.

I won't recommend Do-It-Yourself, but will confirm that it is possible for those with determination, time, and sufficient electrical background.

 

The survey is a little open for interpretation but I said nat gas. I am actually quite bullish on putting solar panels on houses. That seems to make perfect sense to me to avoid the large central power plants. My area, solar option it is not offered much right now. Nuclear I tend to favor to the smaller SMR option. The CA plant shut down has serious ramifications since many others are borderline, with community pressure, Long Island New York is one example.

 

So you just want electricity without the rest of the infrastructure. I am not saying that is a do able thing but is that your mindset.

 

CAVE people aka Coalition Against Viable Energy sources takes little effort. Poor designs and human error made Chernobyl, three mile island, and Fukushima Daiichi a reality. Nevertheless China is now constructing over 200 nuclear power plants based on the Westinghouse AP1000 core standard. Two of these plants will come on line in calendar year 2015 .

 

Wow. I wondered how Westinghouse could afford all the radio ads in Pittsburgh, given the slow construction here. My father had retired from Westinghouse as a nuke engineer (subs - small reactors).

 

I wasn't concerned with the San Onofre plant until they started having problems with the tubes. Then I felt that Edison wasn't being truthful with the public about the situation. Hopefully we will find out what really happened.

 

Nothing prevents both wind and solar. It does mean 'second crop' such as hay and grains are not going to happen. However, the micro-climate improvement, slightly lower temperatures, is a good thing.

Bob Wilson

 

Just surfed out front of the plant an hour ago. I'm not glowing...yet.