Look For Us On Instagram Twitter Not So Much

While we're not all that big on social media, and admit that we should spend more time trying to build something of a following, it seems almost unnecessary to tell people where they can "Find Us". With all the chaos on twitter following the take over by Elon Musk, we're going to be spending a lot more time on our Instagram account. Never really figured out what we were going to say on our twitter anyway.

Amidst Exceptional Heat Residents Of California Called To Save Electricity

 Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency to increase energy production and limit demand during the hot weather.

California’s power grid operator on Thursday repeated a call for residents to conserve energy as the state battles extreme heat ahead of Labor Day.

The electrical grid is “most stressed from higher demand and less solar energy” from 4-9 p.m., said the California Independent System Operator. It issued a “Flex Alert” for Friday calling on residents to take action during those hours — the third day in a row with such a warning.

“With triple-digit temperatures in much of California and the West, the power grid operator is again expecting high electricity demand, primarily from air conditioning use, and needs voluntary conservation steps to help balance supply and demand,” read a news release by the operator.

During the alert period, recommended steps include setting thermostats to a minimum of 78 degrees, refraining from using washing machines or other major appliances, and turning off lights when possible... (Read Full Story from Huffington Post)

California Set To Ban Sales Of New Gas Powered Cars By 2035

 Big win for environment, sort of, California regulators have voted on a plan to move the State off of gasoline powered cars by 2035. No new gas powered cars will be available for sale in the State. California is the biggest auto market in the country, so pretty great. Still it doesn't ban the use of older ICE vehicles, but a step forward. While ultimately a drop in the bucket in the global battle against climate change sends powerful signal that hopefully will be heard by others. Read all about it here from NPR. As big fans of electric vehicles and EV Charging, this will be awesome for all the other ancillary industries.

"Transportation is the largest source of climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions in the country, and scientists have said in increasingly dire language that drastic cuts to those emissions are crucial to providing a livable future on the planet."

Ultimate Luxury Real Estate For When You Win The Lottery

 Powerball is up to $610 million although after lump sum and pay off taxes to Uncle Sam that would leave only about $270 million in your pocket at the end of the day. Regardless, the jackpot is large enough that even well heeled hedge fund managers out in the Hamptons are probably buying a ticket regardless of how well they've done on Wall Street last year. So you would be in good company if you decided to purchase a couple numbers for yourself at the local Seven 11 on your way home. We won't bother going in to the odds, they are firmly stacked against you, and you won't win, but it sure is nice, to buy a ticket and kind of fun thinking about where you might want to move to. Where is that nice new swanky pad? What's your dream get away if you could truly get away from it all? First choice to real estate porn is almost always Sothebys, which is just flipping through impossibly awesome homes. However small individual individuals and their website definitely have better overall selection, specifically targeted to the one of a kind unique properties. Personal favorite these days, especially if you're having dreams of moving to Europe and leading a life a leisure, check out Francis York.

Cost Effective Solar Homes Help Lift People Out of Poverty

Feel good story about sustainable design for the new year by way of Inhabitat. The PowerHYDE housing model was created by Prasoon Kumar and Robert Verrijt of Billion Bricks from India and Singapore. The housing model won a Holcim Award For Sustainable Construction. PowerHYDE house explores sustainable means and solutions to empowering and facilitating growth opportunities to people without homes around Southeast Asia. These homes are now being used to create entire sustainable communities that help to lift home owners out of poverty. (Read More)

The Lithium Rush In Nevada To Power Renewable Future

 Lithium is more or less what's inside all of our batteries these days and thus is the backbone of our transition to a future powered by renewable energy. Batteries store energy and we need those batteries to store the energy produced by solar panels, wind, et cetera and of course batteries power electric vehicles. So it's pretty important. Most lithium for the US comes from overseas, Chili and Bolivia to name two of the biggest exporters. It seems we here in the US have some pretty sizable reserves of as of yet untapped Lithium in Nevada and North Carolina, mining it though is mired in controversy.

Read About It From A Recent CNN Article - A Rush To Mine Lithium In Nevada Is Pitting Climate Advocates And Environmental Groups Against Each Other

Seven Techniques To Help Design Your Green Home

 There are so many different ways to make a home "Green" or more environmentally sustainable in it's construction and design. Have a read from Elenore Bendel Zahn at Architectural Digest for some of the ways that she and her husband made their home more eco-friendly when they were designing and building it. From clay plaster, to paints and finishes to wood and a killer septic. 

The 7 Green Building Techniques We Used To Design Our Dream Home

The Big Problem With The Ford Electric F150 Lighting

 So if you're a car aficionado, or climate aficionado, or just in passing happen to read the news, possibly politics, this past week you probably saw the coverage of Biden test driving the soon to be all electric Ford F150 Lighting pickup truck and his commentary "This suckers quick". Yes, if you've driven an electric vehicle than you probably know that feeling, EVs are quick, super quick actually, instant torque. Awesome to drive. An article yesterday in Slate pointed out the biggest problem with the F150 Lightning, it's weight. To sum up the authors point, the truck is heavy, weighing 6,500 pounds which is apparently 35% more than the gas powered version. This of course due to batteries. The concern that the author had was that the vehicle is really heavy, heavy vehicles cause more damage in crashes, they also cause more wear and tear on roads, cause more localized pollution, completely separate from climate pollution... mehhh okay so fair enough. read the whole article to get a better understanding, we're okay with these issues in general, although issues we shouldn't laugh at, they ultimately present less of an existential problem than the use of fossil fuels.

Meet Lyriq The Cadillac Entry To Luxury Electric Vehicle Market

 Cadillac has not really been an exciting car company for some time, and that is purely personal opinion. For our tastes their designs have been relatively bland, not particularly engaging, nor emotive in any way, boxy and perhaps simply said, overly American. Not a bad thing, not our taste. However, recently saw a commercial for their new Lyriq, aiming to be, one would guess, their flagship electric vehicle. Pretty slick design, love the grill and the lighting set up. Looks like a pretty nice car. The Lyriq will be all electric, with an estimated 300 mile range, very respectable. The battery size is maybe 100 kWh, which would mean a full charge from empty at on a 150 kw charger in about 40 mins and obviously easy overnight charge from your level 2 charging unit. The vehicle is due out in 2022, it's the 2023 model. So, we'll see what actually happens, how it looks, how it performs, but good job. 

Checkout the full specs by Car And Driver Cadillac Lyriq.

Photo Credit: GM Media.

Car And Driver Low Down On The Mustang Mach E

 When Ford first unveiled the Mustang Mach E we got pretty pumped up, for any number of reasons, but the most important was definitely that Ford was really going all in on electric vehicles. Sure Ford has had a number of EVs and hybrids on the road for some time, but they have been really all that exciting or interesting. They didn't do a lot to capture the imagination. Enter the Mustang, classic car brand with a good name, making the switch to electric. No reason to go in to all the stats and give a review here, that's not really our thing, Car and Driver does it so much better, read the full review, 480 HP 2021 Ford Mustang Mach E Nearly $24k More Than V8 GT. One complaint by the way is how the headline kind of makes you think twice, "whoa, great car, but high price". However one of the first things they do point out is that for a performance all electric car, it's almost $1200 cheaper than the Tesla Model Y.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Mach E

California Walmarts Get 6.5 Megawatts Of Solar

 Sol systems recently announced the completion of solar pv development for seven Walmart stores across the State of California, totaling 6.5 megawatts. Respectable sized systems, used both roof and parking lot solar carports. Total project cost was $10 million. Generally we haven't been posting about specific projects, but have come around to the idea that we should give credit where credit is due. Thanks Walmart. Want more of the specific details, check out the article at PV Magazine.

Solar Carports And Tax Credits

 Read a recent article on solar carports and tax credit at Solar Reviews, with the very click friendly title of "Are Solar Carports Worth It, And Can You Qualify For The Solar Tax Credit? - the answer from the very nice "Web Content Specialist" who wrote the article was basically, "Yes", solar carports do qualify for the tax credit. Ok, so feel that there should be some caveat to that. Solar carports can qualify for the tax credit, but may not. Word of advice, if you are going to the solar carport way you really need to speak to your solar installer and all the other contractors who may be involved. As to our understanding, if you build a very fancy gazebo or pergola, that part of the construction may not qualify. The parts of the solar installation that are required for the solar system to generated energy do qualify. This is in some way arguing semantics, obviously if your pergola or gazebo is structurally supporting the solar panels, you could easily argue that it is part and parcel of the solar design, but the IRS may not see it that way. You should be very careful as to what you include and don't include in that quote for the tax credit, trying to slip in a BBQ and claiming it's part of the solar array is a big no-no... having some very nice wooden beams and perhaps some sort of a trellis system that also acts as a shear wall might be a different story. 

We are NOT accountants and cannot and will not give you advice on claiming your tax credit. If you're thinking of going the solar carport route we strongly suggest you talk to a tax professional.

Photo Credit Flickr Loadrunner235 CC

US Reaching The Electric Vehicle Tipping Point

 If you follow the public equity markets, and odds are pretty good, after lockdowns and work from home the past year odds are pretty good you've given more than a passing glance to yahoo finance and Robinhood, then you've probably seem the meteoric rise of electric vehicle companies. Tesla has been a rip for years, seeming defying gravity at twist and turn. But, 2020 will probably be known as the year that electric vehicles entered the mainstream. Every major auto manufacturer has not only announced, but is now actively rolling out their EV fleets. There have also been maybe a dozen high profile IPO's and SPAC mergers of EV start ups, Nikola, Nio, Fisker, Canoo, the list goes on and on. EV charging companies likewise have been going crazy, Chargepoint, Blink and EVGo as just three here in the US. There's a lot more to this story and it's going to keep developing and growing over the coming months and years. Great place to start and read more, The National Observer, Electric Vehicle Transition In The US Is Nearing A Tipping Point. 

Photo Credit: Ken Fields Flickr.