Solar Power: Not the End All, Be All

I have had a solar power system on line for eight (8) months. A lot of people who I have talked with seem to think that when the sun comes up they have full power until the sun goes down. That is not the way it works. I am sure that everyone who has a solar system with monitoring knows what I mean.

I have what some observers would call a small system. My system is comprised of nine Qcell 340 watt panels (DC) and nine Enphase IQ7+-72-2-US micro inverters (dc to ac). There are six panels facing south and three panels facing west. All panels have a 20-degree tilt. There are no batteries. My goal was to defray some of the Edison expense during the summer A/C usage and not spend a fortune. So far I feel my goal has been met. Looking at the history for yesterday and today (so far) the system produced 16.6-kilowatt hours per day. That is combined total for the day. The breakdown is .01kwh at 7 a.m., .9kwh at 9 a.m., 2.2kwh at 1p.m. and .6kwh at 6 p.m. Now spread that out to all solar production in this county and you can get an idea of how much solar production varies throughout the day. The amount will get less every day. Yesterday we had 13 hours and 16 minutes of daylight. Today it will be 13 hours and 14 minutes (if the Daily News weather section is anywhere near accurate).

The main point is that we cannot survive on solar alone. We will need battery backup or some other source of reliable power to cover the hourly changes. That will need any energy force, such as falling water, splitting atoms or burning some kind of fuel. The only reliable source of wind that we have is concentrated in Sacramento. While we are lowering our living standards China is building new coal plants.

Last note. As far as I can see, this state does not have any recycling program for the total electric and hybrid car batteries. The Toyota Prius has been out for over 25 years. Batteries have or will be replaced. What is the plan for recycling the batteries?

Tom Suter
La Crescenta

Points of Concern Regarding LA Zoo Funding

In the article about the Los Angeles Zoo receiving $2.2 million from the state that will help with its Vision Plan for future changes and upgrades, I feel it is necessary to mention that there are major concerns about certain aspects of the plan that the public may not know about.

I am with Friends of Griffith Park, which has been very involved in analyzing the project for several years and providing feedback. The Zoo has listened and made some significant changes and for that FoGP is grateful. But – and there is always a but – the plan still has other problem items.

The critical one includes a proposed massive hillside excavation around the California Area of an undeveloped, largely native habitat of 16.1 acres to create Condor Corridor through a natural ridgeline feature. It may require 6,000 dump truck trips to haul out 74,000 cubic yards of rock and earth. They would also plop a huge new California Visitor Center on top of the ridgeline, which would be seen from far away.

The Zoo is inside the boundaries of the Park and this project would extend its current footprint outside its boundaries and raze undeveloped land, which would disrupt the native wildlife and vegetation.

FoGP is not the only organization having problems with this. David Eisenberg, chair of the Verdugo Hills Group – Sierra Club, said that a collaborative effort with the Sierra Club’s Central Group and Griffith Park Section has collected 400 signatures to be taken to the city council.

There are several more issues with the Vision Plan that can be explained at FoGP’s website https://friendsofgriffithpark.org/lazoo. I urge interested Park users to read it.

I want to make clear that FoGP fully supports the Zoo’s mission of excellent animal care conservation, outreach and education but without destroying a hillside.

Carol Brusha
Glendale

Applauds Mary’s Weather Watch

Just want to acknowledge the tremendous work Mary O’Keefe is doing on writing about the local weather since the very sad passing of Sue Kilpatrick (we still miss her). 

Besides her other quality writing, Mary has undertaken a crash course in meteorology and doing a marvelous job in reporting on local weather and our global environment. As a longtime “Twilight Zone” fan, I particularly appreciated her connection last Thursday to the iconic episode, “The Midnight Sun.” Great information and wonderful creativity. Thanks!

Tom Lusby
La Crescenta