The Energy Show
Barry Cinnamon has been blogging about the Solar Industry since 2007.
Every week Barry hosts The Energy Show, a 30 minute informative talk show that covers a broad variety of energy related topics spanning technology, economics, policy, and politics that are shaping the future of how we generate and consume electricity, along with practical money-saving tips on ways to reduce your home and business energy consumption.
The Energy Show runs every Saturday on KDOW Radio AM in San Jose California.
Barry heads up Cinnamon Energy Systems (a San Jose residential and commercial solar and energy storage contractor) and Spice Solar (suppliers of built-in solar racking technology). After 10,000+ installations while at the helm of Akeena Solar and Westinghouse Solar, he’s developed a pretty good perspective on the real-world economics of rooftop solar — as well as the best products and services for homeowners, manufacturers and installers. His rooftop tinkering led to the development of integrated racking (released in 2007), AC solar modules (released in 2009), and Spice Solar (the fastest way to install rooftop solar modules).
Local Politics of Solar and Battery Storage
Sometimes I think that the last thing we need is more electric utilities (except for the mini-utility our customers have with solar and batteries). But I make exceptions for new Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) utilities that are striving to reduce electricity costs...
Why is Electricity So Expensive?
Why is Electricity So Expensive? We can complain all we want about the absurdly high price of electricity, but this situation is likely to persist for two reasons. First, electric companies are government-sanctioned monopoly utilities. There is usually only one...
OhmConnect with Cisco DeVries
Unless you’re totally off the grid -- both literally and figuratively -- you know that there are power shortages in California. With California experiencing hotter weather, people working at home, dirty power plant retirements, fires, and Public Safety Power...
Ten Energy Saving Myths
The economics of energy have changed drastically over the past dozen years. We have new affordable energy generation technologies (wind and solar), new energy efficiency products (LED lighting and heat pumps), a revolution in transportation (EVs) and affordable...
Protect Your Solar and Battery Storage Rights
You just invested in a brand new EV charged by your rooftop solar and battery. Then, a year later, your utility adds a $50/month fixed charge to your bill just because you have rooftop solar. How would you feel? This scenario is not just hypothetical. Utilities all...
Reliability of Solar Panels and Batteries
Solar panels are long term assets - guaranteed by every manufacturer for at least 25 years. Lithium ion batteries are guaranteed by most manufacturers for at least 10 years. But no major solar panel manufacturers have been in business for 25 years, and no major...
How Often Should I Clean My Solar Panels?
One of the relatively minor side effects of the wildfires in California is the layer of dust and ash that has coated virtually every outdoor surface — including over one million homes with rooftop solar panels. So there are literally millions of people wondering:...
Why Did My PG&E Power Go Out and What Can I Do?
For the first time in 20 years California is experiencing rolling blackouts. Reports indicate that over 3 million residents were recently affected. Conditions that caused these blackouts will continue, and the situation will get worse during fire season when we can...
Covid-19 Impacts on the Solar Industry
The Covid-19 crisis has disrupted solar and storage supply chains across all segments of the industry, initially devastated customer demand, reduced opportunities for the workforce, and caused permitting and interconnections to grind to a halt in many jurisdictions....
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