You do realize that most phones use them to for simple communication of how many ma the charger can provide. Sure newer designs do not require that but I don't see apple changing anytime soon. Several companies make "condoms" that allow and even adapt those signals yet stay safe.

As apposed to a keyfob like you get today?

Is ti really that hard to just use bluetooth prox and pairing. Not that is better than a key but it's just one less thing you need to keep with you. Seems just as secure as the keyfob. Sure nfc and all that but BT is nearly ubiquitous today.

Well I was figuring them on a benevolent day.

The problem is you wont remember those rights when you wake up from the coma in jail with a TBI and associated memory/function loss. To be then railroaded for resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer and anything else they can think of.

Lets compromise we can ban HFCS and also get rid off all laws pushing kids/young adults to be couch potato's. Things like all the no skateboarding/biking/roller blading bans all the curfews. The school systems requiring piles of paperwork and waivers to let a kid walk or bike to school.

Much like the bike helmets studies that show while safer if it means they turn into fatties more kids are having worse outcomes in the long run if they do not bike because of it or pick up another active activity.

Go to a really poor neighborhood's bodega and you will see them selling individual cigarettes often at 2-3 times the price if they bought a pack. They will also break up packages of butter etc. The poor tend to buy small quantities yet much more often and often pay a premium for the privilege. These practices are often against manufactures/distributers contracts and/or the law.

Has anybody else been compelled to give up a physical key or did they just get a warrant and use a locksmith? Seems this is the digital equivalent but the state is bitching that since the locksmith is to expensive and takes to much time so they need different rules.

In that people are shifting away from electric hot water, cooking, heating, etc with a net effect of moving from potentially clean electric power to co2 etc generating burning stuff.

CT, 6 contractors out of the 30 or so and nobody will even talk to you about home owner installs/labor. You need the manufactures certificate for the tax credit and all that I've contacted will not give it unless it's professionally installed by somebody they have licensed.

The site you cited [nrel.gov] gives the same numbers as I have about 26kw of panels gets me 29kwh annually and would cover my entire south facing roof. 2kwh a month current usage or 24kwh a year and some wiggle room to charge a EV later. Sure if you lived in a smaller home in a better area for sun the numbers change quickly.

We differ greatly on panel cost I show complete ready to mount panels at around 150 a pop out of china.

Funny the electric rate in Germany has tripped and there co2 emissions are up as consumers run to other more polluting sources.

The green sources that delivers continuous power is fission/fusion. Granted this does not mean using 60+ year old reactor designs better suited to make weapons grade materials. It also means using the massive amount of heat generated to do something useful.

Strangely those other sources probably pollute far far more than the fission power plants they are replacing.

Might have something to do with the ridiculous pricing in the US. Every licensed installer in my state charges 6-10x the wholesale panel price and will only do a fixed bid install that is about 4x the T+M labor cost. To get any of the government subsidies you must use a licensed installer. In effect I can put up the 100 or so pannels to meet my current needs for 30k including skilled labor yet the cheapest installer it looking for 100+ with the government programs taking it back down to 80 meaning they are making 70+k on whats quoted as a 2 day job with a 5 man crew.

We need to put a stop to the installer language on the government subsidies, simply having the various trade inspectors sign off seems ample proof, but that is a whole different discussion.

Solar is good for alleviating peek load if the weather is right. It needs a storage component to deal with base load and generally be useful. It baffles me that the generally rational and stoic Germans are headed down the road of PV. It amounts to a feel good policy coupled with a hedge on the middle class and above electricity prices (as they own homes and can get the funding to install it). Mandated grid buyback effectively fleeces everybody else via higher rates as they still need to have enough peek capacity to cover peek power when solar is not producing meaning their capx does not go down.

Do not get me wrong if I had a good location for the panels I would have them up, trading a couple hundred buck electricity bill for a cheaper bank loan for 15 years is a good bet. I would effectively have a fixed electricity rate assuming my average production meets or exceeds my average use and that nobody changes the laws allowing for net meetings and forced buyback. Over that 15-20 year life-span it's reasonable to assume my electrical demand will go down via increased efficiency and automation with the only obvious demand increase being a switch to an all electric or plug in hybrid vehicle.