Bill’s Notes
Bill’s notes
Essays, analysis, and arguments on the shift to clean, local energy.
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A decade of trends points to local solar + battery becoming the cheapest source of electricity
Nuclear and coal plants cost more to build. Transmission investments have grown 10x over the last decade. But…
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Technology makes things cheaper… except for the grid
Thanks to technology, industries like transportation, food, and data processing are more affordable than ever before. But there is…
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Will the growth of solar power crowd out farmland?
As solar power continues its rapid growth, will its large land requirements crowd out land otherwise needed for…
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Do we have enough silver, copper, and other materials to keep up with the growth of solar?
Will growing demand for solar panels put pressure on commodity supply chains, driving up costs, and even disrupting…
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Understanding the basics of electricity by thinking of it as water
Part of our Freeing Energy 101 series: a basic introduction to electricity. The article uses water as an…
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Puerto Rico after Maria: From generator island to a solar microgrid revolution (part 2)
In the aftermath of Hurrican Maria, Puerto Rico was left in darkness for months. Many communities responded by…
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Six months without electricity – stories from Puerto Rico and Hurricane Maria (part 1)
Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept 20, 2017 and resulted in the worst blackout in American History.…
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How electric vehicles will drive over the electric monopolies, part 2
Electric vehicles will unleash a new set of competitive forces that will reshape the century-old electric monopoly business…
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How electric vehicles will transform the grid, part 1
Electric vehicles (EVs) will transform transportation, and along the way, they will also transform the electric grid, in…
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Does the intermittency of solar and wind make electricity more expensive?
Energy from the wind and sun is intermittent and often unpredictable. Critics point to this as the fatal…
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Will waste from retiring solar panels overrun our landfills?
As solar continues to increase its share of global energy production, people are starting to wonder what we’ll…
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A simple and affordable plan to address the intermittency of solar and wind
A future powered by clean energy requires batteries to balance the intermittency of solar and wind. Experts say…