Juggling Dynamite

When you’re trying to generate a lot more solar power, you’re limited by the size and heft of those big solar panels.

Where can you put them? The answer so far has been the desert, or on rooftops. There have even been efforts to put panels on top of landfill sites.

Solar entrepreneur Troy Helming of the San Francisco-based solar company Pristine Sun has a new idea: floating on water.Here is a direct audio link.

Are Floating Solar Panels Energy’s New Frontier? https://t.co/3AEijvJzGf

— Danielle Park (@kdaniellepark) May 17, 2017

“A big source of water loss over reservoirs is evaporation. When you put solar photovoltaics over a reservoir, you reduce evaporation.”–Mark Jacobson, Stanford University

We attended an open house in Mulmur, Ontario this weekend for Bone Structure.  A couple thousand people showed up over 3 days to hear from green tech engineers and the company founder about net zero and off the grid buildings.  Commercial, multi-residential, subdivisions and custom homes are now being built all over North America.  In a slow growth world, this area is bucking the trend with huge growth momentum. Stunning, smart and inspiring.

For those who wish to keep their existing building but transition it to smarter energy systems, technical consulting firms like Alternate Power International offer individual assessments and recommendations for your site and needs.

“Why is it that we have been building houses the same old way for the past 375 years? The answer we hear every time is: we’ve always done it that way. A great team of smart and passionate individuals has joined me to challenge the status quo: we must start building HOMES that can last generations and serve as a platform to integrate new and innovative technologies.”

–Bone Founder, Marc Bovet

In 2014 RealEstateTalkShow™ host Erin McCoy met up with Marc Bovet, the founder and President of BONE Structure® for an in depth look at their innovative approach to steel construction.  Here is a direct video link.

According to a new study by Stanford Research no US city or state is running a balanced budget for their pension schemes and the collective funding deficit–of just US public pensions–grew to $4 trillion in fiscal 2016.  The cause of this has been erroneous and negligent financial planning which is targeting average annual returns of 7%, more than twice the actual average return generated of 2.9% in 2015.  See US faces crisis as pension funding hole hit $3.85 trillion in 2016:

Big pension deficits have already contributed to the bankruptcy of several US cities, including Detroit. Puerto Rico, the US territory, this month declared a form of bankruptcy after amassing debt and pension obligations of $123bn.

The answer?  Not taking on more risk and outrageous fees to miracle-promising banks and hedge funds, but rather basic math and restructuring: reduced benefits and increased contributions.  Time to face facts.  The longer this goes on unchecked, the greater the cost to taxpayers, the economy and our social fabric.

Mr Rauh said politicians will have to make unpopular decisions if they are to ward off future financial problems. This could include cutting pension benefits or raising taxes in order to contribute larger sums to public retirement plans.