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| But first, Happy Fourth of July! I keep a pocket copy of the both Declaration of Independence and the Constitution handy and I alway read the Declaration on the Fourth.
We should be grateful to the Founding Fathers. Collectively, those people were geniuses. They had a political problem, recognized that the people of a new continent needed a new form of government and had the courage to go invent it. Was it or is it perfect? Not by a long shot. But it contains the means to as Abraham Lincoln said," make a more perfect Union."
Let us hope that we have the courage to elect political leaders with the intelligence and desire to do just that.
But back to the topic at hand. I made a little money yesterday but it wasn't from soybeans. Awhile ago we purchased and had installed a good sized solar electric array. Now some people say that solar electric isn't useful because the sun doesn't alway shine. This is true. But anyone who has studied electricity demand quickly comes to understand that peak electricity demand doesn't occur at night in the middle of the winter. Peak electricity demand occurs mid-day in the middle of the summer, especially when the temperatures hit the 90's like they are currently. But that's exactly when solar arrays are most productive. Except for a stray cloud & rain day, my panels have been just about max'd out all week.
And it's also just when the cost electricity is highest.
When we signed up for grid-tied solar electric we understood that we would just be swapping kilowatt hours for kilowatt hours as per net metering. So I was a little surprised when I looked at our statements. It turns out that the power company pays us each month (and charges us) on a variable rate depending on how much they paid for power that month. They paid, and paid me, a lot less for power in March than they did in June, twice as much, in fact. I'm quite sure they'll pay even more in July given the weather.
So what? Well, we don't use that much power in the winter and since we don't air condition and we're outdoors kind of people we even use less than that much more expensive power in summer either. So, I'm pretty sure I'll make the difference in two rates. Now, I won't get my statement for another month but I'm feeling pretty good that for once maybe I've come out ahead with power company.
These days, you need to be grateful for small, even very small, victories.
Edited by farmer4321 7/4/2018 08:50
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I made a little money yesterday but it sure wasn't from soybeans.
