Mastermind's Business Blog

The Big Embrace: Electric Utilities Accept Wind and Solar as Reliable Sources, Plan for the Long Haul

2017-11-21T11:15:00.001-08:00

Despite the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that the Clean Power Plan is being repealed, the attractive cost of renewables and improvements in battery storage technology mean that wind- and solar-generated power are here to stay.

Even though natural gas remains the most economical source to fuel power generation, many utilities across the U.S. are viewing wind and solar as increasingly competitive generation options, according to survey results published in Black & Veatch’s 2017 Strategic Directions: Electric Industry Report.

It was only a few years ago that electric utilities were uncertain about renewables. Concern was high over how these options could potentially disrupt and change the industry, and as a result, utilities have been slow to embrace them.

But today, as those sources become more financially viable, utilities are gaining a better understanding of their potential, and are making plans to make wind and solar power sources a bigger part of their energy mix.

A Greater Acceptance (and Understanding)

If you ask the early adopters and environmental advocates, electric utilities now “get it.” Rather than viewing these resources as intermittent, and thus unreliable, sources, they now believe they can harness this distributed supply and with it, improve system flexibility and resilience.

Global trends of decarbonization, decentralization and electrification are the big reasons for this change. A majority of utilities still put reliability at the top of their priority list — before cost and environmental sustainability — when considering which types of generation to add to their systems. But while renewables are often seen as the environmentally-driven choice, their greatly improved economics can make them a low-cost generation source for many utilities.

Aided by energy storage and advanced distribution platforms, past skepticism has turned to cautious optimism, and a growing number of utilities now believe wind and solar can become a real asset. According to the survey, 44 percent of electric industry leaders indicate they are investing in solar PV (like GOAL ZERO NOMAD 100 ), while 43 percent are putting money into wind power, with plans to add these sources to their systems within the next five years. (Natural gas combined cycle generation came in third at 34 percent.)

This marks the first time in this annual survey that solar PV has appeared at the top. While not surprising, this is a big turning point for the electric industry. Further, utilities are also counting on renewables to help with environmental compliance, with 61 percent pointing to renewable energy as their biggest investment over the next five years.

Moving in a New Direction

But all this positive change has one sticking point: Energy storage and having the capability to save the power for when it’s needed most.

While energy storage technology is improving and interest is escalating, storage is still not at the ideal level. More than half of survey respondents view the use of energy storage as “very important” or “important” to their operation, further embracing solar PV. More than 45 percent of respondents said energy storage is “on their road map,” while 14.2 percent are already developing pilot projects to do this. Still, 27.8 percent continue to have no plans for energy storage whatsoever.

One can also say that the reason for all this movement is not so much a change in attitude or economics, but simply because they are being forced to do it whether they like it or not.

Soon, utilities are expected to either proactively embrace the shift away from the traditional generation or change because regulatory mandates push them into a new direction. The state of Hawaii, for example, has already written into law that 100 percent of its energy supply will have to come from renewables by 2050. And California is not far behind as the state grapples with that decision, which many believe is inevitable given their progressive and environmental-heavy legislative leanings.

Others are being told to create a new market mechanism. New York State’s Reforming the Energy Vision is moving utilities to a more transactive open platform to integrate, trade and aggregate supply from any legitimate source, even if it comes from tiny house rooftops or private, commercially-owned microgrids that were once considered off limits to the greater population.

Renewables Present New Opportunities

Moving in this direction also provides tremendous opportunities for growth. Utilities are already facing the burden of decreasing load demands, which are unlikely to return to the levels of years past. That’s putting pressure on and creating more challenges for the business side of the operation. But new opportunities exist in the electrification of transportation and other sectors of the economy, such as farming and commercial.

As renewables and distributed energy resources proliferate and become part of the common energy ecosystem, the electric industry will continue to evolve to produce new business models that help define the cost benefits. We will likely see more decisions having to be made around the ownership and maintenance of assets, and whether or not a hybrid model should be considered, along with other co-development arrangements.

But for now, it appears electric utilities have had time to digest both the impact and opportunities presented by these maturing technologies and are facing them head on.

Importance of a Garage Door

2017-09-23T03:09:00.000-07:00

How many of you expect that people who come to your place should say that wow, what a cool place you have got? But how many of you get the same compliment? Many of you may get, but about which portion I am talking about over here? Is it like you are talking about the internal look of your house? No let me tell you that I am talking about the outer portion of your house, may be which was not even important for you till now but now I am going to tell you that what kind of role does it plays in shaping the mindset of the people about your house.

Go and observe the outer look of your house. Which is the most seen part of the house the windows, the walls or the front facing garage? Yes of course the garage the garage door, which you never have noticed but influences the house look a lot. You may not take care of the garage door, but still today I am going to tell you how important it is, why this problem occurs and how do you need to take care of it.
Why is it important to take care of the garage door?
For getting a better look:

You may not be very much careful about the look of the garage, but let me tell you that is the most seen part of the house and you will definitely not want that your house look bad just because of the bad appearance of the garage door and even those rusty patches which make it worse than ever. So try to think of making the garage door improved.
For the safety sake:

When you are not going to have garage door right you can face problems like when the garage door cables get weak they may get down any time and can hurt any person, or even a kid. So you have to only get it in its place so that nobody should get hurt because of it.
For getting relaxed:

If you think that you are not going to repair your garage door and still stay relaxed then you are absolutely wrong, because until you do not get it right you will always have tension in your mind that no one should get into it, or harm himself from it. Or the look of the door is not at all looking good. So just take this thing out of your mind so that you can get the better feeling before.
Now we will even discuss that how this problem occurs:
Bad weather:

When we talk about the rusted and bad looking shutter or the door of the garage then we can say that it may happen because of the weather conditions, because where the sun heat can fade the paint of the shutter there only rain or snow can rust the shutter, so one of the factors for making the garage door look untidy is the weather condition.
Harsh behaviour of you:

When you are going to take out something from the garage door or are going to put something back in it, then you do not take care of it at all. Pushing it up in a bad manner and even pulling it down without any care means that you are not at all concerned about the things you are having.

3. Not taking care of it yourself only:

When you are washing your car or doing something near the garage door then also you do not give on look to your garage door. You do your work and just go away. This is also one of the reasons why you suffer from having a bad garage door.
These reasons are not the permanent ones they can be improved and can even get vanished if you want. Because now I am going to tell you that how you can get the garage door better by taking proper care of it:
Go get someone from the repair shop:

If you want that your garage door should get right in its place then you need to call someone who is well experienced in this kind of work, this is one of my personal suggestions that do not try to get it repaired by yourself you may even get hurt. So try not to get indulged in all this because you can even make it worse, and if you are doing this just for the sake of saving money then after getting it worse you will only have to pay double than before.
Take care when you open it:

When you are going to get it repaired then only have one thing in your mind that you have spent a lot of money on it and you will never want to get it into the same condition over and again. So when you open it or close it then do the things with a little bit of care.
Do not let the children go near the garage door:

Try not to get the children near the garage door, they play they have fun, and this may also happen that the children may pull it do something which may also hurt them and break the locks and cables of the garage door.

The above mentioned things may look like very general, but they are very important when you are going to think of making the repair of your garage door. These things will really work for you if you are going to keep them in mind that what is to be done and what not. Give a break to yourself and go out of your house and analyse that which part of your garage door needs to get improved or not. Then only go for someone to get it repaired this is going to even save your money and time too. So just make your house look fabulous by taking a small step towards it.

Finally i can offer you the best gate pener system from mightymule MIGHTY MULE FM200 which protect your house.

GoPower has a 15,000mAh power bank for your MacBook

2017-07-13T07:01:00.000-07:00

Fancy charging your MacBook when you’re on the road? There’s the GoPower USB-C Portable Battery. It’s a 15,00mAh power bank (for example: GOAL ZERO SHERPA 100 KIT ) that comes with a dedicated USB-C port for charging MacBooks that were launched after early 2015.

The power bank comes with a USB-C port for MacBook-charging (5V/ 3Amps), and a separate USB-A output port for charging your iPad or iPhone (5V/ 2.4Amps). There’s also a USB-C input port for charging the GoPower USB-C Portable Battery itself. Given its capacity, it can charge deliver a full charge to your MacBook, or it can give you multiple charges to your smartphones and tablets.

While it’s designed for the MacBook and its other iOS siblings in mind, the power bank can also charge up other devices that uses a USB-C charging port. According to the product’s website, the following devices are supported:

MacBook (early 2015 and newer)
Google Chromebook Pixel
HP Spectre
Google Pixel C
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet
Nexus 5X
Nexus 6P
Microsoft Lumia 950 / 950 XL
LG G5
HTC 10
USB-C enabled computers, tablets, and devices
iPhone, iPad, and iPod models
Smartphones, digital cameras, action cameras, and GPS units

4 Important Attributes to Consider When Purchasing a Vehicle for Business

2017-03-29T13:20:00.003-07:00

With so many options available to you, finding the right car for your business can be difficult. Since most small startups are working on a strict budget, they can’t afford to pay for all of the additional features that many manufacturers try and entice you to buy either. Fortunately, there are still some basic models that come fitted with the kind of technology you’ll need as standard. Here are 4 important attributes you should consider when purchasing a new vehicle.

Affordability

Affordability is one of the most important qualities of any company car and finding a vehicle that sits in one of the lower ranking insurance groups is the ideal way to attain this. Insurance groups range from 1-50, with those at the lower end of the scale being much cheaper to insure than those at the higher end. You can use sites like this to see where each make and model will be grouped.

Efficiency

The next step is to take a look under the hood, as this is where the most important technology lies. In order to compete with new hybrid vehicles or all-electrics that have gained popularity in recent years, many manufacturers have redeveloped their existing engines to be much more efficient. We see this with Ford and their EcoBoost range, as well as Vauxhall’s BlueInjection and SEAT’s Ecomotive technology. As well as increasing mpg, these also aim to decrease CO2 emissions so that you don’t have to pay as much in Vehicle Excise Duty.

Connectivity

The advent of smartphones has meant that more and more people are now able to stay productive while on the move. Vauxhall recently announced that its Infotainment system will be fitted as standard across much of its range, including the Corsa which starts at under £7,500 from suppliers like Motorpoint. This will allow users to integrate their devices via Android Auto or Apple’s CarPlay systems, enabling you to more easily handle hands-free phone calls or dictate important messages.

Entertainment

Of course, it’s not all about getting work done though. It’s also important to strike the right balance between work and play so that you don’t encourage burnout. Consider taking advantage of the latest entertainment packages in vehicles such as the Seat Leon. Whether you’re into classical or drum and bass, the six-channel amplifier will make everything sound great as you make the trip to the next big meeting.

Buy vs. Lease: How to Choose When Purchasing a Business Vehicle

2017-03-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

Whether it’s a part of your mobile sales team or you run a delivery service, a reliable vehicle is essential for many different kinds of businesses. Finding something that suits your requirements is often the easy part, but figuring out how to successfully finance the vehicle is another story. Here’s what you need to know about sourcing your next car.

Buying it Outright

Buying a car outright will give you the most freedom. Not only will you be able to customise the vehicle to your exact needs, but you also won’t have to worry about any limitations that are typical in leasing contracts, like annual mileage limits. Perhaps the biggest advantage of buying a vehicle outright, though, is the ability to sell it on in the future to recoup some of your initial cost.

While your sell-on value will be based on the type of vehicle, as well as its condition, typically after three years on the road you can expect a car to have lost around between 50-60% of its initial value. This is one of the reasons that shopping on used outlets like Shelbourne Motors is so appealing to small business on a budget, as the vehicle will have already experienced the main brunt of depreciation. However, remember you may have to spend more money on servicing and maintenance compared to a new car.

Leasing the Vehicle

Leasing is another popular alternative for business use. As you’ll be paying for the vehicle monthly, you’ll be able to better manage your cash flow without worrying about going over budget. This allows many business owners the ability to bring in vehicles that would otherwise be out of their price range, including the very latest models that make use of new technologies that will save you money in the long-term.

It’s important to remember that in a regular leasing contract, you will simply be paying for the use of the vehicle. At the end of your contract, you’ll need to return the car to the supplier at which point you can renew your existing contract or take out a different vehicle. This can be both an advantage or a disadvantage depending on your situation. Many business owners prefer this method as they don’t have to deal with depreciation or finding a buyer when it’s time to sell.

How to Choose the Right Car for Your Business

2017-02-26T13:24:00.000-08:00

A new vehicle is often one of the most significant purchases a business needs to make. This is especially true for small businesses who can’t afford to make a mistake choosing something that doesn’t fulfill their needs. While everyone’s criteria will be different, there are a few rules that every buyer should follow. Here’s what you need to know.

Making the Right Choice

With so many options available to you, deciding which vehicle to choose can be a real headache. This will be dependent on the type of company you run, as well as the location that your business is located. Making the right choice is crucial, especially if you plan to use this vehicle for a number of years, so researching your options will pay off in the long-term.

If your business is based in an urbanised area and you need a small vehicle that can easily weave through tight city streets, the Citreon C3 is a great choice. Available from £9,330 from retailers like Robins & Day, the new C3 has an elegant new design that’s sure to make the perfect first impression. Conversely, if you need something larger to handle heavy loads, the Ford Transit has become the number one selling van in the UK, and comes in a range of different options.

How to Finance the Move

Once you’ve decided which vehicle is right for your business, you have to consider how you’re going to finance the move. This is the most difficult step, especially for small startups working on a strict budget. Purchasing the vehicle outright is the most preferred option as it gives you complete control. You won’t have to worry about any restrictive mileage limits or rules against customising the van to display your company’s advertising.

If this is out of your budget, consider leasing instead. This allows you to pay for the use of the vehicle on a monthly basis, usually over a one-to-three year contract. At the end of the lease, you’ll have to return the car to the supplier where you’ll have the option of extending the contract or taking out a new vehicle entirely. This way, you’ll never have to worry about any depreciation in value and you’ll always be able to drive one of the latest models.