<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><div style="RIGHT: auto">Dennis wrote:<WBR style="RIGHT: auto"></div>
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<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">"A few years ago [another site] we discussed the </SPAN><SPAN>labor </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">required to maintain </SPAN><SPAN>solar and wind energy [highly </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">dispersed systems] if they </SPAN><SPAN>were to actually gain more </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">than </SPAN><SPAN>a niche hold in the energy </SPAN><SPAN>market. The number </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">of broken </SPAN><SPAN>necks falling off roofs for solar and the huge </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">maintenance </SPAN><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">overhead for wind would require an </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">amazing shift in labor </SPAN><SPAN>resources and training.</SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">"Large powerplants have maintenance issues like a</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">normal factory. Solar and wind will be more like</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">everyone going back to the days of raising their </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">own food and pumping their own water. There will</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">be real lifestyle changes required and labor diverted</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">from more productive enterprises. Expect power</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">interruptions, long waits for service calls if you can't</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="RIGHT: auto"><SPAN style="RIGHT: auto">do the work yourself and increased prices."<VAR id=yiv1405930008yui-ie-cursor></VAR></SPAN></DIV>
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<DIV style="RIGHT: auto">I think this depends on how it evolves. One can easily imagine all of the above issues as invitations to inventors and entrepreneurs to find solutions. For instance, if it's hard to fix these things, try to make them cheap and modular -- e.g., so cheap and easy to install that people replace rather than fix (you don't, I take it, fix light bulbs or socks with holes in them; you chuck them and get new ones). Or make them so durable, they rarely break down -- as is the case with stoves, refrigerators, and dishwashers.<VAR id=yui-ie-cursor></VAR></DIV>
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<DIV style="RIGHT: auto">Regards,</DIV>
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<DIV style="RIGHT: auto">Dan</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></div></body></html>