Patience Is A Virtue; Henco Voters Are Paragons
By Mitch Berg
Jeff Johnson’s “Hennepin County Taxpayer Watchdog” blog is one of my favorite new blogs. Every county should have one, provided every county in Minnesota has someone in it who’s dedicated to kicking butt for taxpayers. Sadly, many don’t.
Earlier this week, Jeff took on one of the propaganda points that always attend “green” projects: “they’ll save money”.
In this case, Johnson looks at a solar panel project at a Henco public works building in Medina that purportedly would save Henco taxpayers “$15,000 per year”.
Jeff just wanted to know; when?
Before I provide you the answer to my question, let me say that there is no magic pay-off period for such projects. Some argue that an energy conservation project is successful if it pays for itself in 7 to 8 years. Others argue it can be 10 to 12. I’ve even heard a few people argue that it should be slightly longer than that, based on the positive effect (regardless of how small) such projects allegedly have on the environment. I don’t have a firm opinion yet as to where I fall on the pay-off period, but I’m certainly comfortable with something in the 10-year range for a project such as this.
So how long will the Henco taxpayer have to wait to see a return on their “investment”?
The Public Works Solar Panels? Well, after some explanation to me about how this project is not “all about the bottom line” I learned that they cost about $900,000.
Yes, these solar panels will begin to save the taxpayers of Hennepin County $15,000 per year in 2070. My 5th grade son, Thor, will be 71. I will be dead. And I’m willing to wager that the Hennepin County Public Works building in Medina will be long gone.
But on the bright side, we’ll still be paying off the deficit…
June 4th, 2009 at 9:00 am
A very amusing and not uncommon about the eco-silliness plaguing our times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/garden/04waterpod.html?hpw
is a link to an article from the NYT, not a joke, about an alleged sustainability project on board a barge populated by (what else?) some self-described artists. The barge is sustainable only if you forget that it was bankrolled by some very hefty donations.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:02 am
How anybody can justify Photovoltaic Solar Panel usage in Minnesota for any reason is beyond me. Not only will it take 71 years to recoup the cost, but the net energy spent building and then shipping the panels from China will probably never be recovered. And I’m sure that the electrical energy used to construct the panels came from a horribly dirty Chinese coal fired plant.
The county should dismantle this solar farm, sell the panels on ebay, and use the proceeds to fund further conservation efforts such as the lighting replacement programs that are underway that have a payback period of one year.
June 4th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I’d like to replace the chairs in the State Legislature with Gilligan bicycles. Make them peddle in place while in session to power the CFLs and sound system.
June 4th, 2009 at 11:40 am
I have a different idea Kermit. We should demand the legislature implement a methane gas recovery system that would be used in a fuel cell to defer energy consumption at the capitol (although it could be argued that the “lights are already out”). Require all the reps to strap the gas collector to their collective asses as they certainly generate plenty of wasted green house gas! I’d say going “green” starts at home.
June 4th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
One thing you can always count on from a greenie: an inability to do a cost benefit analysis.
One thing Jeff seems to have forgotten: the lifetime of those solar panels is about 25 years (which is on the generous side and assumes we don’t get a good hailstorm). Which means that these Public Works wonks are ready for promotion to Obama’s advisory council.
I was at the bus stop a couple weeks ago and a looney neighbor was crowing that PV cells were finally competitive with the line and we was finally going to be able to go off-grid and stop supporting the evil power company..
As an EE, I raised my eyebrows and said, “You realize that’s for peak efficiency, in Arizona in the summer? And the power costs are for California, not Minnesota? And that to get even tolerable efficiency you’ll have to have a tracking and snow clearing system up here? And that the cost cannot be amortized in under 25 years even with the tax break you’ll get? And that you have no power unless the sun shines if you don’t have batteries? And that battery storage is hideously expensive?”
June 4th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
“One thing Jeff seems to have forgotten: ”
Lots of things Jeff left out of the calculation, but they only make it look worse.
1. Maintenance costs. Panels need frequent cleaning
2. Additional cost for insurance (hail)
3. Cost of money $900,000 at 2% yields $18,000 year
The solar panels are nothing more than a monument to county government.
I really hope Jeff’s blog opens some peoples eyes (and replaces some county commissioners)
June 4th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
This might be a stupid question but what’s the life expectancy of a solar panel? Is this something that will even LAST for the 60-plus years that it will take for taxpayers to break even on their “investment” or is this something that likely will have to be replaced long before then?
June 4th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
They are a complete and utter boondoggle!!!! And when the go to hell (and they will) they’ll suffer the labor costs to tear them down.