Solar panels to power houses in new developments

While I certainly don't intend for this blog to turn into my amateur suggestions on how to save electricity or gas, an article regarding one Washington family's attempt to save on their personal electricity bill demonstrates that even houses bought in this market could be equipped to ease some of the strain on the electric grid.

According to the article, for a cost of approximately $25,000, one family installed a series of solar panels on their property to help reduce the cost of their monthly electric bill. Now, the article makes them out to be sort of psycho when it comes to saving electricity, but their cost savings do indicate that the results would be significant, particularly over a long period of time.

If Delaware were to provide some sort of tax incentives for developers to integrate this sort of technology into new developments, and also similar tax credits for citizens who install this equipment, I think it could help drive down energy costs across the board and would ultimately be received positively. The real advantage to this sort of system implemented on the state level is that it would provide a new technology sector to develop, which would in turn put people to work and incentivize our high school students to think more seriously about careers in engineering.

In the short term, obviously the technology is cost prohibitive. In the long term, however, it may be something to consider. That is, the target market for this sort of solar technology is people buying houses they expect to live in for ten plus years. It would certainly not depreciate the house's value.

I'd be interested in hearing about the success or failures of this sort of system from others who have applied this type of technology to their own homes. If it's worth it, perhaps the government should investigate it a bit to see how good (or bad) the greater potential benefit may be.

Tags: installing solar panels on houses, personal solar power

Gallons per mile versus Miles per gallon

CNN ran an article that NPR had reported on last week. It suggests a way of thinking of gas mileage in longer terms by looking at gallons per mile instead of the more traditional miles per gallon. It's along the same lines of my gas saving suggestions from the other week.

I also saw that the Bluewater Wind Power contract finally seems to be a done deal. While I have yet to see exactly how much 200 megawatts is compared to the total energy grid (preferably as a percentage), at least on its surface it would seem to be a way of saving money. It also gives me some ideas for a greater energy policy the next governor or president can tout, and I'll have to think about that a little more and write about it another time.

Tags: gas saving tips, blue water wind power

Capital School District comes up with a clever way of balancing the grading scale

I can't find a link to the article online, but the Delaware State News reported today that Capital School District (which I believe encompasses Dover High School and its subsidiary middle and elementary schools) has altered part of their grading policy from a 100 point scale to a 50 point scale. It's actually a pretty ingenious effort to level the playing field in high school academics.

I'm not going to spend to much time focusing on the negatives, and I'm sure there are exceptions for the absence or refusal to turn in assignments, but the gist of the new system is as follows. The grading scale is failing from 50-69, and passing from 70 and above (with a "D" average falling from 70-76, "C"s from 77-84; "B"s from 85-93, and "A"s from 94-100). The thought process is that if a student fails one test and improves over time, the increasing results have a more realistic possibility of having a final average in the "pass" range.

For example, under the old scale, if a student got a 35 on the first test, a 60 on the second, a 68 on the third, a 72 on the fourth, a 74 on the fifth, and a 76 on the last one, and there was no weighted averages for any, the student would have cumulative average of a 64, which would be failing. Under the new system, the score on the first test would automatically become a 50, and the average would be increased to a 67. It's still failing, but it makes it a little easier for the teacher to objectively demonstrate a progressive increase and possibly justify giving a little more weight to the later tests. Certainly if you play around with the numbers a bit, you can show an average that increases from below failing to barely passing.

In the grand scheme, it's not that much of a change from the system already in place and the discretion given to teachers in grading. Nevertheless, the idea that it's "trying to ensure we don't give kids 69 ways to fail and 31 ways to pass" is a novel one that warrants further consideration, perhaps by the rest of the districts in a similar fashion. Certainly credit can be given to the Capital School District board for trying something new.

And if it works well for Delaware schools, maybe other states would give it some consideration as well.

Tags: delaware public school grading scale

Another solution to the current budget price: a gas surcharge on speeding tickets

I fully admit that this idea is an adaptation of an article in today's USA today which reports that some cities (Atlanta in particular) are adding a $10-15 gas surcharge for motorists convicted of speeding. I think this is a great idea. You already have to pay court costs, various compensation fund costs, and other costs to the state, what's another $10-15 on top of $150 or so? I'm not sure how much revenue this sort of plan would actually generate, but I think it's a way to basically stick it to those who break the law and are caught.

There are probably other disincentives and options with regard to this idea that can be more fully explored in committee. But as a revenue generator, this sort of plan (if at the very least, can help alleviate some of the state/city budgets paying for troopers to run their car and enforce the law.

Tags: charging a gas surcharge on traffic tickets

Power fluctuations during a big storm and how boring life must have been last century

The power in my apartment went out for a while during yesterday's thunderstorm. Without any real source of light (save a small battery powered lantern), it was fortunate that I at least had a cell phone to stay connected to society. In sitting there (and eventually just going to sleep), it made me wonder what life was like pre-internet and pre-tv. I can remember pre-internet pretty well, but pre-tv predates my time. I guess people just read books or played cards or board games. Simpler times I suppose.

During my drive home during the storm, however, it became abundantly clear how poorly painted some of the road lines are, as well as how bad drivers get when it starts to drizzle (or downpour). Why people just don't think to drive at a safe (but consistent) speed is beyond me.

Gas crosses $4 threshhold

As pointed out by one of the most left-wing cable news programs that I tend not to watch, the price of a gallon of gas in 2001 averaged $1.47/gallon. This morning when I filled up, it was $3.93/gallon. When I drove home, it had jumped ten cents. Well, at least Delaware is consistent with the national average. How unfortunate, and yikes!

One thing it would be interesting to track would be what a price of a gallon of gas was based on the closing price of a barrel of oil the day before. So, when gas spiked to $138/barrel on Friday June 6, the corresponding gas price would have been $3.93/gallon or so. I alluded to the fact a little more than three months ago that it seemed fishy that gas prices had such a quick lock step with the price of a barrel of oil, which would suggest some sort of illegal collusion or price fixing. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

A barrel of oil around that day (Feb. 26, 2008) was approximately $103/barrel. It's hard to tell what the rate of change is based on two random data points, but I think everyone can agree that the price of a gallon of gas isn't going down any time soon. It certainly would come at no surprise that if three months from now, we're paying another dollar more per gallon. The question is how much more is too much more before the working middle class is even more squeezed out from making ends meet.

Here's a thought DART - run more buses to more locations and more often. Or maybe as part of a broader economic stimulus package we should think more seriously about a regional mass transit system running down the middle of the state and along side or in the middle (raised) on parts of 13 and 1. I've suggested as much before; maybe I will have to give that idea some more thought and elaborate to see if it gains any steam.

Tags: price of a gallon of gas in dover delaware, price of gas in delaware

24 News coverage is skewing the perspective of the country

One of the major problems without any realistic solution at this point in time is the 24-hours news services. Coupled with the internet, the general public has become almost dependent on up-to-the-minute news updates. The problem with this desire for news is that it has eroded the quality of news overall, and is forcing all journalists to (perhaps) let some stories run that would otherwise be shelved for more research. The idea of the "scoop" does not have to wait until the next morning's front page to be unveiled; with the correct connections or with the internet, anybody can shoot from the hip and, in all likelihood, has an audience to listen to.

Setting aside the free speech implications, I'm not implying that this is a bad thing. My concern is that I believe we are coming to a saturation point. Take the Democratic primaries, for example. All day yesterday, if you turned on cable or the internet were headlines and pundits speculating on what would happen next, reacting almost instantaneously to the candidates' remarks/speeches, etc. To point to an example closer to home, look at the Senator Biden remark about Indians and Dunkin' Donuts a few months ago. And this guy is on the short list for Obama's Secretary of State? My point with all of this is that because of 24/7 news coverage and the ability for anybody to put anything on the internet is that anything anybody ever says can now be taken out of context, exploited, overexposed, and thrown under the bus of public opinion.

For better or for worse, that's the state of news affairs nowadays. I think the bigger problem is that you almost have to read through a dozen websites and three news channels just to figure out the opposite ends of the opinion spectrum and then hope you can figure out which grain of truth is more correct.

Can anyone get a fair shake anymore? Probably not. I just hope that in the desire that we all become more informed and more in-touch, we haven't lost sight of what keeps the spirit of public opinion going.

Thought of the day: Teachers and parental accountability

Just a quick rhetorical question: If parents were held to the same accountability standards as educators, how many parents would pass the equivalent of the DSTP? Maybe teachers don't shoulder as much blame as some of these comments in the newspaper would indicate.

Sports gambling in Delaware - and the NFL cares because?

Sports gambling is a viable, albeit perhaps short-sighted way of fixing the budget problems befalling our state. More than likely, the revenue generated will far exceed the projections currently given. The thing I find funny is how the NFL has gone out of its way to cry out against it. My thoughts? Give me a break.

First, if you google "nfl scandals", you'll pull up any number of controversies that show that the NFL, as pointed out by Reps. Cathcart and Wagner, is simply being arrogant in their reasoning why they oppose this bill. The NFL's official position is that they are opposed to gambling because it sends the wrong image of its athletes. Just like excessive celebration will cost your team a 15-yard penalty and smoking dope may get you suspended, the image to the sport isn't tarnished by the third-parties who make the games a little more interesting. The only practical reason they are against this proposal is financial. While I agree that the NFL PR department is doing everything right, it also reminds me a bit about the December 2007 quote from Hillary Clinton that she would have the nomination clinched after Super Tuesday.

Do you know how many millions of dollars are made in advertising revenue generated through watching games and playing fantasy football? Granted, the NFL gets a cut of that, or at least attempts to, and that is the only realistic reason why the NFL is opposed to sports gambling become legalized in Delaware. They just want a little piece of the pie.

Here's a solution the NFL could give to Delaware instead of their holier-than-thou attitude against gambling. Why not give Delaware a percentage of the NFL pot? Or request that some of the teams (or the league itself) reincorporate in Delaware? Play a couple of pre-season games at University of Delaware. There are financial incentives the NFL could present to the State in exchange for this bill to go away. I don't see anything but threats of the degradation of society, which doesn't pay the bills, nor alleviate them.

Will Delaware become the West Coast vegas as a result of this bill becoming law? Of course not. We already have Atlantic City and Delaware is never going to compete with that. Nor is this bill about table gambling (although that would logically be the next step in ten years from now when the budget is again facing astronomical crises). This is simply a bill to generate money that people are already ready and willing to gamble. The NFL can counter this simply by running ads on its network that deter it. And make a couple of examples out of athletes who blow their weekly salary on a couple rolls of the roulette wheel in Vegas or stomp on opponent's helmets.

Wait until the NFL figures out how to get a chunk out of fantasy football and then watch some sparks fly.

Regardless of how this immediate debates turns out, it's a lot of conjecture and speculation. Plus, this bill has only gotten through the House, and whether or not it actually gets through remains to be seen. And the current Governor is, in all likelihood, going to let this one ride on the shoulders of the new guy. What will happen next? Delawareans will certainly be following this one closely. I'm going to bet on it getting held up in the Senate for a little while longer.

Tags: delaware sports gambling, sports gambling bill in delaware, nfl opposes gambling in delaware

Is there any money to be made in investing in wind power?

I haven't given this wind power much thought other than for its possibility that it could drive down the overall electric bill. Whether or not this current proposal (and all of its related discussion) ever gets some wind in its sails remains to be seen. I would imagine the cost for creating an private on-shore wind farm would probably be cost prohibitive. But in the efforts to save some of the farmland downstate, would it be so bad if (rather than development), a couple public power companies opened up shop?

I'm not familiar enough with the electricity industry or how exactly the industry works to make a decision one way or the other as to whether this idea could work. I see it as a potential growth area for the private sector to jump in and splash around for a bit if it is in fact possible. The fact that nobody really has yet, however, leads me to think the industry is even more regulated than I thought. Given the rising cost of electricity, though, something needs to happen and at least people are talking about methods to drive down the costs.

I would think that it would be in everyone's best interest to require all new developments to implement some sort of centralized electrical service (e.g., solar power cells powering the development or geothermal power) in an effort to defray the costs. There's probably more to this idea as well, and I'll simply have to keep my ears to the ground to see if anybody makes any headway into it.