PRC as a amplifier in GPS question.

[Eeyore]

JosephKK wrote:

Richard Henry wrote:
"David L. Jones" <altz...@gmail.com> wrote:

I just saw the movie Who Killed the Electric Car?:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489037/

Fantastic!
Everyone should watch this one.
The IMDB user comment is spot on - " This film WILL frustrate you greatly"
In fact, it's enough to make you want to cry.

Can't believe I had never heard of the movie before the other day.

Dave.

The EV-1 is GM's Edsel. Except that it worked and they couldn't make
enough to satisfy demand.

Beancounters killed it. And they took away a marketing advantage GM
could still be milking.

Not the bean counters, the "executives".

Probably true.

However I'm utterly amazed that so many people posting here are unaware that GM looks to be
the future market leader with several really promising (PH)EV products being planned and
built in both the USA and Europe.

Specifically the GM Volt and Opel Flextreme. And unlike the useless EV1 these are proper 4
seater cars with a 400 mi range.

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

JosephKK wrote:

"Paul E. Schoen" wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote

Reality. There isn't enough generating capacity to convert to electric
cars.

It may not exist at the moment, but the switch to electric (as well as
other more efficient vehicles) must be accompanied by an overall reduction
in our total per-capita energy consumption. Even if new electric power
plants would be built, using the same fossil fuels that now power
automobiles, they would be much more efficient and cleaner than millions of
individual cars and trucks being driven in stop-and-go traffic. But the
ultimate resolution to this problem will involve people changing their
lifestyles, using more public transportation, living closer to jobs (or
telecommuting), and generally becoming a more cooperative society living
and working closely with other people, rather than isolationism, needless
competition, and broken families.


Silly boy. The conversion cannot happen quickly because of generation
and distribution issues. That kind of huge infrastructure changes
require major long term capital investment. Where is that going to
come from?

Typical 'green' daydreaming. It's one reason I no longer support greenpeace
despite sending them a few quid every month for years. They're on the planet Zog
these days and utterly out of touch with reality.

Graham

 

[Eeyore]

John Larkin wrote:

"Paul E. Schoen" wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote

Reality. There isn't enough generating capacity to convert to electric
cars.

It may not exist at the moment, but the switch to electric (as well as
other more efficient vehicles) must be accompanied by an overall reduction
in our total per-capita energy consumption. Even if new electric power
plants would be built, using the same fossil fuels that now power
automobiles, they would be much more efficient and cleaner than millions of
individual cars and trucks being driven in stop-and-go traffic. But the
ultimate resolution to this problem will involve people changing their
lifestyles, using more public transportation, living closer to jobs (or
telecommuting), and generally becoming a more cooperative society living
and working closely with other people, rather than isolationism, needless
competition, and broken families.

Non-competitive paradises like Cuba and North Korea? They certainly
aren't suffering from glutted super-highways or packed shopping-center
parking lots. And they have excellent energy conservation techniques:
the power is only on a few hours a day.

You have to be NUTS to compare Cuba to N Korea.

Heck, I have some friends who just holidayed in Cuba and they loved it. Things
are changing there now with Fidel's fall from everyday control. Mind you they
seriously started changing many years back anyway,

Graham

 

[T]

In article <etn1349h1jln3kk7nfqrkha746i02u4fic@4ax.com>,
jeffl@cruzio.com says...

On Sun, 18 May 2008 18:37:00 -0700, John Larkin
jjlarkin@highNOTlandTHIStechnologyPART.com> wrote:

On Sun, 18 May 2008 18:21:02 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com
wrote:

Incidentally, one of the old but fun problems with hospital water
control is selecting the temperature. One set of regulations demanded
that the water be hotter than 52C in order to minimally self
sterilize. Another set of regulations from a different agency,
demanded that water be no warmer than 52C to prevent scalding. This
was about 10 years ago, and hopefully a suitable compromise has been
reached by now.

My wife works in a hospital where one inspection agency requires
plastic-bag liners in trash cans, and another agency forbids them.
They adjust according to which inspection is scheduled.

One more for your collection. OSHA requires rubber mats in the food
preparation areas in order to prevent slip and fall due to slop on the
floor. Some other hospital safety agency forbids such rubber mats to
facilitate slop cleanup and prevent filth accumulation in the mats.
The hospital currently uses the same strategy. Rubber mats are either
deployed or well hidden depending on the scheduled inspection type.

I just interviewed for a position as a network engineer for a hospital
group. They were telling me about the regulations regarding 802.11 gear,
it's enough to make your head spin.

The certification process is in a word, ridiculous.

 

[Eeyore]

T wrote:

Joerg wrote:

Not if you live in an area where electricity cost versus monthly usage
has the I/V characteristic of a silicon diode. Out here when you reach
130% of baseline that would be the 600mV point. Go beyond that and
you'll hear a huge slurping sound. That sound would be coming from your
bank account. And that happens in a lot of other places, too.


That's ok, I just got a notice that National Grid is hiking electric
rates in RI again

Rhode Island or Republic of Ireland ?

Graham

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Eeyore wrote:

"David L. Jones" wrote:

My home has a power point in the garage, doesn't yours?

My home doesn't have a garage with power point or otherwise. To recharge an EV
I'd have to trail a power lead across the footpath which is clearly ridiculous.
That's if I can park directly in front of my own house which I usually can't.

Here's one for sale in my road for nearly $1 mill that doesn't have one either.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-18757154.rsp?pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

There is LESS THAN ONE car parking space per house (each house is about 13 feet
wide).

Too bad for you and the other sardines. I have a 30' * 40' four car
garage, with its own 100 A 240 VAC service. There is a 18' * 28' shop
building, and a 12' * 24' guesthouse behind the three bedroom house.
There are two 12' * 12' buildings as well. One is the laundry building,
and the other a small workshop. A 6' * 10' potting shed is on the far
end of the guest house, and a 10' * 10' dog kennel behind the guesthouse
and shop buildings. It's on a half acre, with the Florida Greenbelt
behind (Western side), and on the north side. Places like this can
still be bought for under $100K in some areas of Florida.

<http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Belleview,+FL,+USA&ie=UTF8&ll=29.091214,-82.088452&spn=0.001641,0.0025&t=h&z=19>

You could have the same for a reasonable price, if you lived in a
civilized country.

You need to consider that not everyone lives in the USA where you have many
acres per person of land space. The same problem also occurs in some US cities
too.

Most people in the US DON'T have acres of land, idiot. More of your
vast ignorance of the US is showing.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Eeyore wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

"Paul E. Schoen" wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote

Reality. There isn't enough generating capacity to convert to electric
cars.

It may not exist at the moment, but the switch to electric (as well as
other more efficient vehicles) must be accompanied by an overall reduction
in our total per-capita energy consumption. Even if new electric power
plants would be built, using the same fossil fuels that now power
automobiles, they would be much more efficient and cleaner than millions of
individual cars and trucks being driven in stop-and-go traffic. But the
ultimate resolution to this problem will involve people changing their
lifestyles, using more public transportation, living closer to jobs (or
telecommuting), and generally becoming a more cooperative society living
and working closely with other people, rather than isolationism, needless
competition, and broken families.

Non-competitive paradises like Cuba and North Korea? They certainly
aren't suffering from glutted super-highways or packed shopping-center
parking lots. And they have excellent energy conservation techniques:
the power is only on a few hours a day.

You have to be NUTS to compare Cuba to N Korea.

Heck, I have some friends who just holidayed in Cuba and they loved it. Things
are changing there now with Fidel's fall from everyday control. Mind you they
seriously started changing many years back anyway,

Graham

Then tell us why we still see makeshift boats full of Cubans trying
to make landfall in Florida? Another group was intercepted a few weeks
ago. If what you say is true, they must despise having to live in
paradise.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

 

[Martin Brown]

Joerg wrote:

terryc wrote:
On Fri, 16 May 2008 18:13:45 -0700, Joerg wrote:

Pure electric-only EVs aren't the answer. It'll be HEVs that most
likely win
the day.

Hydrogen? Where's that going to be coming from?

Exactly. My 2c is on a proper hybrid where the ICE(petrol or diesel)
simply runs a generator that tops up the battery bank.
I would really like to see if that works out more efficent that all the
inefficencies of current direct drive ICEs.

That's how the Toyota Prius works. Gets between 40mpg and 60mpg
according to what owners told me.

Which isn't all that impressive by European or Japanese standards of
fuel efficiency. A BMW 3 series deisel saloon will manage that. eg

http://saveyourcash.co.uk/fuel/cardatadetail.aspx?mfr=BMW&model=3-Series-E90/E91/E92/E93&id=632

Urban 39.8 Motorway 64.2 mpg to save you following the link.

(and it will turn in that sort of excellent fuel efficiency at speeds
well above the UK national speed limit of 70mph)

Factor in the energy costs of making and disposal of the Prius batteries
and the deisel BMW almost certainly wins on lifetime costs.

BTW: How long do Prius batteries last?

Regards,
Martin Brown
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

 

[Joerg]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Sun, 18 May 2008 17:12:42 -0700, Joerg
notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

PG&E rates vary with usage and season. The cost to charge the fleet
of electric vehicles would have placed them in nearly the highest
rates. See:
http://www.pge.com/tariffs/ResElecCurrent.xls
That's the current residential rates. My guess is that electricity
would cost about $0.30/kw-hr at the highest rate.

Can't see the spreadsheet but IIRC it does cost that much.

Y'er news header shows that you're using Windoze. You might want to
download the various Word, Excel, and Powerpoint viewers from
Microsloth.

Word 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=95e24c87-8732-48d5-8689-ab826e7b8fdf&displaylang=en

Excel 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996c-4569-b547-75edbd03aaf0&displaylang=en

PowerPointless 2007:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=048DC840-14E1-467D-8DCA-19D2A8FD7485&displaylang=en

Visio 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3fb3bd5c-fed1-46cf-bd53-da23635ab2df&DisplayLang=en

The reason why PV is popular in Europe is that goverments there provide
HUGE subsidies. They often get well north of 50c/kWh and the other
ratepayers foot the bill. There is no free lunch.

"The world's largest solar power plant is only the latest addition to
Germany's investment in alternative power..."
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100049624/index.htm

The way I understand it (from a rather marginal TV documentary) the
logic is that when the oil runs out, Germany will have electricity
while most other countries will not. It's also part of creating jobs
and dealing with the unemployment problem. German taxpayers
apparently paid about $3.8 billion last year to subsidize alternative
engergy sources. Whatever it takes.

I have Excel. "An unknown error occurred", the usual meaningful MS error
message :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[John Larkin]

On Mon, 19 May 2008 03:06:49 -0400, "Michael A. Terrell"
<mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote:

Eeyore wrote:

John Larkin wrote:

"Paul E. Schoen" wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" wrote

Reality. There isn't enough generating capacity to convert to electric
cars.

It may not exist at the moment, but the switch to electric (as well as
other more efficient vehicles) must be accompanied by an overall reduction
in our total per-capita energy consumption. Even if new electric power
plants would be built, using the same fossil fuels that now power
automobiles, they would be much more efficient and cleaner than millions of
individual cars and trucks being driven in stop-and-go traffic. But the
ultimate resolution to this problem will involve people changing their
lifestyles, using more public transportation, living closer to jobs (or
telecommuting), and generally becoming a more cooperative society living
and working closely with other people, rather than isolationism, needless
competition, and broken families.

Non-competitive paradises like Cuba and North Korea? They certainly
aren't suffering from glutted super-highways or packed shopping-center
parking lots. And they have excellent energy conservation techniques:
the power is only on a few hours a day.

You have to be NUTS to compare Cuba to N Korea.

Heck, I have some friends who just holidayed in Cuba and they loved it. Things
are changing there now with Fidel's fall from everyday control. Mind you they
seriously started changing many years back anyway,

Graham


Then tell us why we still see makeshift boats full of Cubans trying
to make landfall in Florida? Another group was intercepted a few weeks
ago. If what you say is true, they must despise having to live in
paradise.

Worker's paradise:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba#Economy

John

 

[Joerg]

Martin Brown wrote:

Joerg wrote:
terryc wrote:
On Fri, 16 May 2008 18:13:45 -0700, Joerg wrote:

Pure electric-only EVs aren't the answer. It'll be HEVs that most
likely win
the day.

Hydrogen? Where's that going to be coming from?

Exactly. My 2c is on a proper hybrid where the ICE(petrol or diesel)
simply runs a generator that tops up the battery bank.
I would really like to see if that works out more efficent that all the
inefficencies of current direct drive ICEs.

That's how the Toyota Prius works. Gets between 40mpg and 60mpg
according to what owners told me.

Which isn't all that impressive by European or Japanese standards of
fuel efficiency. A BMW 3 series deisel saloon will manage that. eg

http://saveyourcash.co.uk/fuel/cardatadetail.aspx?mfr=BMW&model=3-Series-E90/E91/E92/E93&id=632


Urban 39.8 Motorway 64.2 mpg to save you following the link.

(and it will turn in that sort of excellent fuel efficiency at speeds
well above the UK national speed limit of 70mph)

Factor in the energy costs of making and disposal of the Prius batteries
and the deisel BMW almost certainly wins on lifetime costs.

Sure, but so far most European Diesels weren't able to pass emissions in
California. And wasn't there that company in Germany that made soot
filters that turned out not to work and they knew it? Read something
like that in the papers.

BTW: How long do Prius batteries last?

No idea. AFAIK they keep them between 50% and 80% charge to make them
last. So far none of the neighbors here has needed replacement and most
of them use the Prius for lengthy daily commutes, including a grade you
have to tackle to get up here.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 19 May 2008 02:20:26 -0400, T <nospam.kd1s@cox.nospam.net>
wrote:

I just interviewed for a position as a network engineer for a hospital
group. They were telling me about the regulations regarding 802.11 gear,
it's enough to make your head spin.

In about 1993, before HIPAA, I was working with a large medical office
management group. The problem was that office space on the hospital
campus was expensive, so they moved across the freeway to a cheaper
location. The problem was that the cost of a T1 was rather. We were
looking into wireless. All that was available in 1993 was Wavelan
802.11 at 2Mbits/sec (half that in thruput) and some 900MHz stuff from
OCT. Good enough to replace a T1. I submitted my proposal to the
hospital bureaucracy which was immediately rejected by the safety
committee. Safety? Yep. They didn't want their patients
"irradiated" by all that evil wireless. I eventually threw together
an IR system, that actually worked, but only to about 100Kbits/sec. It
also had the irritating habit of losing focus twice a day as the
thermal inversion layer hit the beam over the freeway.

A few years later, Wi-Fi became the high fashion buzzword, where
everything from heart monitors to crash carts were being deployed in
the hospital. They even have a Cingular cell site on the roof of the
the cardiology unit:
<http://802.11junk.com/cellular/rich/DominicanHospital/>

So, in 2003, someone figured it was safe to resurrect the idea of the
wireless link across the freeway. They submitted roughly the same
plans, and were again rejected on the grounds of RF safety. In
addition, HIPAA requirements had just become manditor, and nobody had
a clue whether wireless was acceptable. That decision was in the
hands of the attorneys, who supplied the tranditional judgement, that
wireless was a potential problem and should be avoided. Never mind
that in 2003 there were already a dozen wireless access points
scattered around the hospital (not counting those installed by the
doctors for their own use).

Incidentally, I proposed and tested delivering Wi-Fi to the hospital
rooms via the HVAC ducting used as waveguide, which sorta worked, but
was also deemed a potential can of worms.

The certification process is in a word, ridiculous.

The local hospital is owned by Catholic Healthcare West. I have to
restrain myself not to call the process the "blessing" of the
hardware. Also, I've had to survive an insurance company audit of the
medical offices equipment and procedures, which makes HIPAA wireless
certification look trivial by comparison. (I haven't done any of that
since 1996, which explains why I'm still sane).

Actually, it's apparently becoming somewhat easier these days. Some
wi-fi vendors are including regulatory and certification compliance
reports in their security packages. For example:
<http://www.xirrus.com/products/security.php>
<http://www.airmagnet.com/products/ea_cisco/>

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 19 May 2008 07:38:48 -0700, Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

I have Excel. "An unknown error occurred", the usual meaningful MS error
message :-(

If you can get any of the MS Office Suite applications up and running,
go unto:
Tools -> Detect and Repair
You'll need the original Office or Excel CD. That usually does the
trick. Otherwiser, run the original setup, and tell it to repair
Office. If that doesn't work, tell it to reinstall the existing
applications. If that doesn't work, give up and install Open Office.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 19 May 2008 09:18:53 -0700, Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

BTW: How long do Prius batteries last?

No idea. AFAIK they keep them between 50% and 80% charge to make them
last. So far none of the neighbors here has needed replacement and most
of them use the Prius for lengthy daily commutes, including a grade you
have to tackle to get up here.

Yep. Overcharging (or running a battery close to 100% charge) or
running the battery into total discharge, kills NiMH batteries).
Toyota says at least 180,000 miles in tests, with some going to
250,000 miles. 180,000 is about 10-12 years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius>

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

 

[Joerg]

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

On Mon, 19 May 2008 07:38:48 -0700, Joerg
notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

I have Excel. "An unknown error occurred", the usual meaningful MS error
message :-(

If you can get any of the MS Office Suite applications up and running,
go unto:
Tools -> Detect and Repair
You'll need the original Office or Excel CD. That usually does the
trick. Otherwiser, run the original setup, and tell it to repair
Office. If that doesn't work, tell it to reinstall the existing
applications. If that doesn't work, give up and install Open Office.

Well, it reads all other files just fine.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[Joerg]

James Arthur wrote:

On May 19, 6:38 am, Joerg <notthisjoerg...@removethispacbell.net
wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 18 May 2008 17:12:42 -0700, Joerg
notthisjoerg...@removethispacbell.net> wrote:
PG&E rates vary with usage and season. The cost to charge the fleet
of electric vehicles would have placed them in nearly the highest
rates. See:
http://www.pge.com/tariffs/ResElecCurrent.xls
That's the current residential rates. My guess is that electricity
would cost about $0.30/kw-hr at the highest rate.
Can't see the spreadsheet but IIRC it does cost that much.
Y'er news header shows that you're using Windoze. You might want to
download the various Word, Excel, and Powerpoint viewers from
Microsloth.
Word 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=95e24c87-873...
Excel 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996...
PowerPointless 2007:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=048DC840-14E...
Visio 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3fb3bd5c-fed...
The reason why PV is popular in Europe is that goverments there provide
HUGE subsidies. They often get well north of 50c/kWh and the other
ratepayers foot the bill. There is no free lunch.
"The world's largest solar power plant is only the latest addition to
Germany's investment in alternative power..."
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100...
The way I understand it (from a rather marginal TV documentary) the
logic is that when the oil runs out, Germany will have electricity
while most other countries will not. It's also part of creating jobs
and dealing with the unemployment problem. German taxpayers
apparently paid about $3.8 billion last year to subsidize alternative
engergy sources. Whatever it takes.
I have Excel. "An unknown error occurred", the usual meaningful MS error
message :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

The document is an incomprehensible tangle of special exceptions,
rules, ambiguous and incomplete, with footnotes. IOW, exactly what
you'd expect from a publicly regulated, legislated anything. Stay
tuned for public healthcare.

The upshot for most people is _energy_ charges (i.e., excluding
significant other charges) as follows:

Minimum charge of $0.15 per day,
$0.116 / kWh for usage up to "baseline",
$0.131 / kWh for usage up to 130% of "baseline",
$0.226 / kWh for usage up to 200% of "baseline",
increasing to $0.36 / kWh for users going over 300% of "baseline".

Yep, that's pretty much what it is out here. Want to be environmentally
conscious and install a heat pump? Forget about it. We knew a lady who
recently passed away, she paid a whopping $1k in one (!) month. So we
heat with wood.

Estimated actual, average energy rate paid by a typical customer =
$0.167/kWh

If you don't use A/C much and don't have a heat pump.

"baseline" isn't specified; the user is referred to another raft of
god-awful charts, tariff rules, spreadsheets, and calculators, varying
per region.

Baseline is very little. A couple days of A/C use can push even the most
frugal households above it. That baseline rule together with
hyper-inflationary propane is like a stranglehold. It stifles business
development. When I had to find and equip a new site for our company
that was one reason why I told the commercial real estate broker "...
but not in El Dorado County" although I live there.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[James Arthur]

On May 19, 6:38 am, Joerg <notthisjoerg...@removethispacbell.net>
wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 18 May 2008 17:12:42 -0700, Joerg
notthisjoerg...@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

PG&E rates vary with usage and season. The cost to charge the fleet
of electric vehicles would have placed them in nearly the highest
rates. See:
http://www.pge.com/tariffs/ResElecCurrent.xls
That's the current residential rates. My guess is that electricity
would cost about $0.30/kw-hr at the highest rate.

Can't see the spreadsheet but IIRC it does cost that much.

Y'er news header shows that you're using Windoze. You might want to
download the various Word, Excel, and Powerpoint viewers from
Microsloth.

Word 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=95e24c87-873...

Excel 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c8378bf4-996...

PowerPointless 2007:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=048DC840-14E...

Visio 2003:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3fb3bd5c-fed...

The reason why PV is popular in Europe is that goverments there provide
HUGE subsidies. They often get well north of 50c/kWh and the other
ratepayers foot the bill. There is no free lunch.

"The world's largest solar power plant is only the latest addition to
Germany's investment in alternative power..."
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100...

The way I understand it (from a rather marginal TV documentary) the
logic is that when the oil runs out, Germany will have electricity
while most other countries will not. It's also part of creating jobs
and dealing with the unemployment problem. German taxpayers
apparently paid about $3.8 billion last year to subsidize alternative
engergy sources. Whatever it takes.

I have Excel. "An unknown error occurred", the usual meaningful MS error
message :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

The document is an incomprehensible tangle of special exceptions,
rules, ambiguous and incomplete, with footnotes. IOW, exactly what
you'd expect from a publicly regulated, legislated anything. Stay
tuned for public healthcare.

The upshot for most people is _energy_ charges (i.e., excluding
significant other charges) as follows:

Minimum charge of $0.15 per day,
$0.116 / kWh for usage up to "baseline",
$0.131 / kWh for usage up to 130% of "baseline",
$0.226 / kWh for usage up to 200% of "baseline",
increasing to $0.36 / kWh for users going over 300% of "baseline".

Estimated actual, average energy rate paid by a typical customer =
$0.167/kWh

"baseline" isn't specified; the user is referred to another raft of
god-awful charts, tariff rules, spreadsheets, and calculators, varying
per region.

HTH,
James Arthur

 

[Martin Brown]

Joerg wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 19 May 2008 07:38:48 -0700, Joerg
notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

I have Excel. "An unknown error occurred", the usual meaningful MS
error message :-(

There are plenty of those. I think they learnt the style from IBM.

Even worse when it just dies or stops responding spontaneously. At least
these days it doesn't usually take the OS with it although I suspect
XL2007 took down Vista on my portable last week.

First time I have seen Vista completely dead in the water. Stopped
responding to the keyboard and then shortly after I tried to close
XL2007 the mouse pointer stopped with the pointer still on the close X.

Being a portable I had to wait for the battery to die. No reset button

If you can get any of the MS Office Suite applications up and running,
go unto:
Tools -> Detect and Repair
You'll need the original Office or Excel CD. That usually does the
trick. Otherwiser, run the original setup, and tell it to repair
Office. If that doesn't work, tell it to reinstall the existing
applications. If that doesn't work, give up and install Open Office.


Well, it reads all other files just fine.

Chances are something is wrong with the file. You could try the XL
viewer (free download from MS) it is somewhat more error tolerant than
the main application (or a clone that will open XL workbooks). If it
opens copy and paste the stuff it can decode into a new worksheet.

Regards,
Martin Brown
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

 

[Joerg]

Martin Brown wrote:

Joerg wrote:
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 19 May 2008 07:38:48 -0700, Joerg
notthisjoergsch@removethispacbell.net> wrote:

I have Excel. "An unknown error occurred", the usual meaningful MS
error message :-(

There are plenty of those. I think they learnt the style from IBM.

Even worse when it just dies or stops responding spontaneously. At least
these days it doesn't usually take the OS with it although I suspect
XL2007 took down Vista on my portable last week.

First time I have seen Vista completely dead in the water. Stopped
responding to the keyboard and then shortly after I tried to close
XL2007 the mouse pointer stopped with the pointer still on the close X.

Being a portable I had to wait for the battery to die. No reset button

On many laptops holding down the power button for several seconds resets
the box. I tend to stay with older software where I can. Saves a little
in cost but the main reason is that older generally means more reliable
when it comes to software or OS. And Vista will not enter these here
premises ;-)

If you can get any of the MS Office Suite applications up and running,
go unto:
Tools -> Detect and Repair
You'll need the original Office or Excel CD. That usually does the
trick. Otherwiser, run the original setup, and tell it to repair
Office. If that doesn't work, tell it to reinstall the existing
applications. If that doesn't work, give up and install Open Office.


Well, it reads all other files just fine.

Chances are something is wrong with the file. You could try the XL
viewer (free download from MS) it is somewhat more error tolerant than
the main application (or a clone that will open XL workbooks). If it
opens copy and paste the stuff it can decode into a new worksheet.

Well, I know what's in there anyhow since I am a PG&E customer :-(

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

 

[Rene Tschaggelar]

Joerg wrote:

Jeff Liebermann wrote:


The owner indicates that the calculated break even point is 18 years
out of a 30 year lifetime. The higher prices of electricity will make
the break even point somewhat sooner. I don't have all the numbers
necessary to verify that. I certainly won't buy into anything that
takes 18 years to break even as I don't expect to live that long. I
agree that it's not very practical (unless you include government
subsidies and rebates), but it's a start.


The reason why PV is popular in Europe is that goverments there provide
HUGE subsidies. They often get well north of 50c/kWh and the other
ratepayers foot the bill. There is no free lunch.

As solar power producer, we get about a dollar a kWh
for solar energy. As electricity customer we can
choose the amount of solar energy you wish to
purchase. This is an adjustable surcharge that allows
to pay such high prices for solar energy. And guess what,
The demand for solar energy by far surpasses the supply.

So, I'm planning to have a solar roof in addition to
the heatpump running on a well.

Rene
--
Ing.Buero R.Tschaggelar - http://www.ibrtses.com
& commercial newsgroups - http://www.talkto.net