Hey, we'll go back to our steve director Corvin. I'm Rick. You can follow us on Instagram Twitter for more juicy content Thank you to everybody's for it's on patreon follow street account and subscribe and like button and I Am fragile Interesting Wow It's a renvier. Yeah, it says I am it is Yeah, I love it. Anyways, welcome back today. We're doing a movie review And you're like right right Shahrukh on yeah, my friend Rick is here. We're just we're just filming differently Aren't we totally? Yeah, we are y'all. Yeah, I'm totally here We are we're doing this via zoom because I my not me my my children have been sickish and varying degrees of it past few days and so just to be safe because Rick was sick, but we don't know if it's the same kind of sick so Everybody's been getting sick here. So it's just that time here. I'm insane Being careful being careful. That's why we are on zoom, but a highly requested film from last year another one from last year 2023 Indeed even though I need to be is this 2022 which is very strange I know it did say 2022 and I actually put that when I put it on the list because it said that No, no, it's not is it? It came out. No, it came out sometime in November. I forget. Yeah But another one that we definitely didn't get in theaters here too small of a film, but starring a whole bunch of When actually not a whole bunch one Dost three of us Yes directed by I Say his name Hold up my sorry. There we go. No, no, no. I've got it. I'm pulling it up on imbb. It's just it's just slow It's it's Avinish Arun also written by yeah, and he did but the lock. I believe he was one of the directors. I think on but the lock with Jadip and also starring hopefully future dosed Shafali Sha and It's a What's his name? Shwan and her here Who you think in a quite a few things just off the yeah, we have to be thanks to radiates typo che Barfee. I'm sure actually quite a few other things that we've seen him in Yeah, oh the the director was also the cinematographer on this Wow, so Directed in cinematography now. Wow. Anyways, it just came out on Streaming so and it's a smaller film so we're gonna start with non spoilers just since it's a newer film and it was smaller and it just came out and so I know it not as many people have seen this as You know other things so yeah, that's how we will do this Rick your initial thoughts of three of us Yeah, and by the way, it's the streaming platform. It's on it's on Netflix Netflix. Yeah We're we just keep we just keep hitting it out of the park I can't remember the last time we were on a string of films back to back to back to back to back to back that have been So good and not only good because you know a good film when you see a good film But it's this time of year when we're watching the best of the best because it's award season and the past like six films We've seen yeah are as as good as it gets and and I say a lot about this film, but ultimately what a beautiful Wonderful I I personally think this is I'll talk about this in the spoilers because I want to give nothing away If you just want to watch another film that is beautiful writing beautiful acting Yeah, a lovely score and a very human story with some moments that are just as Lovely as it gets to watch actors act and directors tell a story watch the three of us on Netflix. Yeah Another one that would have changed the favorites and the dummies easily And and okay, so here's the thing when we did all that It was the end of the year and I was like I need to get to this This is the time that you do these end-of-the-year things because if you get too far in the year It's it's just weird timing to do something like that I think right so you want to do it like right at the end of the year And so that's why we did that but during that time because I heard like no wait wait wait And the three films they told us to wait for were 12th fail a Cuffle the core and three of us and three of us those were the those and there was actually another Marathi one that we will get to Well, and also and then there was also the play The Malayalam one. Yeah, but people haven't seen that and that's that's a this-year film. That's not a lot. Yeah, that's true That's true That's you know, we would have seen it last year because of the Indian physical also the film festival, right technically a this-year film And so those were the three and I was like I will get to them and we did But if we would have gotten to them before the dummies and our favorites They would have been totally changed in all categories. Yeah, and so we apologize for not getting but that's that's what happened But yes this film So fucking brilliant, right like this yeah, and then there's all so different The couple the core this and in 12th fail so beautiful in so many different ways But all three and including LJPs from last year But I would actually probably push that below the other ones in terms of what you would submit to the Oscars just because of Accessibility that one takes a lot more nuance and like understanding of culture and Indian movies and right up like that Even though I would send that one way over what they sent These three are so accessible to Western audiences Yeah, that you could have if they're if they weren't eligible like if any of these three weren't eligible for last year Because I don't it's it gets weird sometimes with how they're when right least They should be at the forefront for for next year's Oscars if they're eligible, you know, preach preach because all three are so brilliant somebody this one reminded me of And I loved it way more than the film about about the reference The film with Francis McDormand a couple years ago where she was the traveling and the traveling woman. Yeah That's a good film I Like this one a lot more but in the room referencing it because it's almost like just a fly on the wall and These are little segments in your piecing together this person's life And have you seen have you seen past lives yet? Not yet. I will win the screen You will notice Huge similarities Not in the sense in any way shape or form that I that I think these stories knew about each other or copied each other Yeah, but they're very very similar films in a lot of ways subject matter. Yeah pacing Silence saying as much as words sometimes more but even the subject matter It's very very similar and that's a compliment because past lives is in the conversation and should be for for Oscars I don't know the sags kind of screwed the pooch this year and a lot of respects I don't know what the hell went on with the nominating committee this year But and I think I do believe anybody Any adult can appreciate this film solely because a subject matter I think if you know anybody who's not mature is going to be bored because they're not going to understand what's going on Yeah, the nuances if you yeah, but if you've got some life experience under your belt Not just biological because there's people who can be 45 50 years old and they're still really immature I mean you've you've been around the block and you've lived some life and you've seen some pain this is gonna have some connectivity and profundity for you and and it's one of those things where you see a Mirror reflected in who we all are I actually I'll talk about this in the spoilers, too I would have given it a different title for a particular reason that's related to a spoiler aspect of it, but yeah Score is lovely Jai deep and Shafali are are just there's one one particular moment that is so Lovely she's lovely I just yeah, she she actually would that would have been a direct change to the dummies She would have won best actress For I couldn't argue with that. I gave it to a shawariah and she's still deserving But obviously, I think I would agree with you. I think I would have given it to her I think I would have given it to Shafali job Yeah, I think I would have and Jai deep would have been nominated whether he would have won I don't know I'd have to think about that one more. She had obviously the more Complex role even though I thought Jai deep did a phenomenal job and I'm loving his choices Because obviously when he started when he started out He was probably in the same that no was was they gave him the gun and they were like be a villain and he's a great villain But now that like especially since after pot a lock and everybody's like oh this guy's good He's just like I get to choose whatever I want. I'm getting to sink my teeth into fun fun things and he did such a good job obviously Shafali is You you could be hard-pressed to find five actresses better than Shafali Shah in in India just different All you would get is different.  Yeah, she almost had And not say she wasn't strong because she was but she was almost carrying herself Lighter it felt like she was I Don't know really had to explain it But I was watching I was like this doesn't seem like the same Shafali Shah and obviously she's just a phenomenal actress And she's able to it's able to do that. She just did such a good job It's a testament to her capacity because you're absolutely right her essence her persona I think is a person because it conveys and most of the character she portrays irrespective of what they're going through Yeah, she has a kind of strength. It's not the same kind of regality that taboo has but it is similar in terms of this sense of Foundational power that is inherent in who she is and in this character. It's still there, but there's some cracks in it There's some fragility to this character not broken this. Yeah, there's a lot of fragility that is is simply The only way you do this is when you're an actor who has the capacity to fully incarnate a character from the text and Your backstory work and you're not trying to indicate or pre-shape anything You are simply so aware of what you're doing as a craftsman that you can you can you can do that It reminded me a lot. I don't think you've seen May December yet, right? Yeah, no Sags screwed the pooch. I don't know why they didn't nominate Charles Melton. He's getting an Oscar nomination No, his his his character in May December is a very complex character that at face value most people might not recognize but for anybody who's really familiar with script and character analysis and He's he did a similarly Oscar worthy level performance easily and she has such subtlety in it because if this was in a an experienced actor's hands, they would oh god It would be indicating and be awful It would be painful to watch because they be ruined. I have to show you without giving anything away I have to show you what's going on right now Constantly, it'd be awful. Yeah, I could visualize it in my head and how awful it would be and she's with JD. Yeah, and she you could just see that Is she the phenomenal actor she is man, she just Shouldn't have to do anything but you're gonna you you're gonna appreciate past lives when you watch it because it's it's Very very There's a lot of similarities. Yeah, a lot of similarities. Yeah, her and JD did a did such a good job. They had such great chemistry I Felt their past In in their shuttle in the subtleness of the writing which was a shout out to that I thought the husband also who we've seen in quite a few things actually did a very good job He had as I I would even be tempted to put him in a supporting role in the dummies And Jai deep's wife was wonderful. Yeah, she was wonderful as well. The writing in this was subtle and beautiful The school human was so good. It was just like The essence if you don't like flying the wall films I like this film because this is like the almost the essence of Flying the wall film so so many films this year. I was making a list I'm gonna put it on Instagram of the films that I've loved this year both from Hollywood and from India The majority of them are flying on the wall films. There's there's this one. There's cough of the core. There's the play There's yeah 12th fail. There's Past lives anatomy of a fall these are all the kind of films where you just want to sit back and everybody's so Believable you just feel like you're watching human beings go through these experiences and you feel this connectivity because it's universal and yeah, this easily could be a Submission because like 12th fail like cough of the core they have definitive Indian this and They have universal connectivity that everybody from any country would connect with Yeah And so yeah, I love a div basically Thank you for waiting because I know a lot of you have been screaming for this Thank you for for waiting But if you haven't seen it, please go watch it now because we're gonna get these oils right now on Netflix And it's actually only it's like an hour and a half. So it's a very short very short Indian film That's a wonderful journey and it's it's beautiful. It's subtle It's it's it's wonderful in all the ways that that you like if you love cinema So please go watch that because now we're gonna get into some spoils Get spoiled bitch There's the queue. This is for those of you who have seen the film get spoiled What were you gonna say you said you wanted to something about the title you said Yeah, well the first thing I thought when I was watching this was in many respects This movie is a ghost story Yeah, I could you could take this story and Mike Flanagan who does these kinds of things He could easily turn this into a horror film not because there's anything inherently scary But because this is a story about people who have hauntings from their past. Yeah, and Because so much of the film also included More than I anticipated it really did include Jideep's wife. Yeah More than I was expecting with a film called three of us and with what she's dealing with I I don't have a problem with the three of us I think it's a nice title, but a film more along the lines of say just remembering. I Think that's two on the nose It and maybe I'm wrong in that way. I think that's just my first I wouldn't mind a different title I wouldn't mind a different title, but I something too on the nose like I don't I don't like Like past lives works and you're gonna you're gonna see the similarities I just and I this is one of those films that is is so superb at show don't tell there is Zero exposition in script. Yeah, you figure it out. You're going along for sure You realize she has early onset dementia without anyone saying the word dementia You just you know because the writing is so good and the performances are so good But that's what's going on and you understand These people have a history and no one needs to say anything. You know something happened at the well And there's there were I need to know The shot when she's talking to the woman that people said was a witch She's sitting there and they have that that stagnant shot on her and there's an opening to her left That takes you out into the night sky and there is a moon with clouds passing by it. I Thought if you guys got that shot with just nature helping you out. What a serendipitous shot. I Love to know if it was I have a feeling it was. I don't think that was CGI vfx Yeah, it is but yeah, but was man It was great that whole scene. I thought was beautiful because it was It left with a lot of questions, but it also gave you a lot of answers of a little bit into a river past But it was also so like Unique it wasn't like normally like with some of these stories like of people One of the worst diseases in the history of Watching somebody you love And them fading away basically That's one of the worst things I can think of agreed, but A lot of times it'll be like stereotypical things. Oh, I want to remember this or I want to like and they're doing certain things But they're like this one didn't really go in that route because they didn't really like They didn't even go that too much into Jai deep and her and what their relationship exactly was They left a lot of things unanswered They obviously they gave you some answers But like they kind of let you piece it together and I love that because and the complexities of each of their marriages But not the supporting this of each of their partners great great spouses who are so understanding and loving because you could totally understand like Jadip's wife and be like why is Why is this lady here all these years later and she wants to see you why and you'd understand it was like no that's what why And now you're writing poetry again. Yeah, and then the other guy was like you never you never loved me like this Yeah, and that you were never this happy. Yeah, and so obviously these natural questions that would come about in this type of situation But I thought it was beautifully written and and how they they did all that I thought yeah Because they never got angry with each other. It didn't turn into fights. It turned into wanting to understand And and the other moment I was referencing that I is from me There's many times there's takeaways from a film where you just are impressed with something There's a there's a moment for example in maestro where Bradley Cooper's conducting the London Symphony That's a standout moment that you remember from the film the standout moment for me is That beautiful conversation they have at the top of the Ferris wheel. Yeah, that was a great one and the choice I don't know how they rigged that shot But I think that shot up there and they had some background people who had to sit there and stuck on the Ferris wheel But they didn't move they just kept us tight on that beautiful tender Vulnerable but still protective and and the sweetness with which they both have this deep connection But they know their lives are so different so they don't want to do anything. They like each other spouses And and another film if you guys are interested in watching a really magnificent portrayal of early-onset dementia that goes much deeper into symptomatic problems Julianne Moren still Alice is is a fantastic fantastic film about this I think it was the father from a few years ago, right? Great film with Anthony Hopkins. I got great great But this was this was different very really lovely and that we just got to see a couple of days where she knows the diagnosis But she's yet to really start to get the symptoms strongly that it starts to affect her. She's she knows it's coming Yeah, and that that's that I thought it was sucks beautiful multiple things here But when she got up and danced and then she just oh That moment what beautifully done by Shafali And subtly done, but you're like you can see it in her in her face I don't know if she forgot where she was or if she's just yes She forgot the steps or she was always a little bit behind Yeah And you don't know if that was an experience or just what was going on But then she opened her eyes and you saw the horror of basically what was going on in her head I thought that was she's or maybe maybe she was terrified that she's gonna forget this And I yeah, I felt that the cinematography and direction choice in that moment was superb It let her run to that column and they just left it there And they left us distance from her with that column there and they didn't move that shot It was perfect, and I thought the the end shot was actually very brilliant. I Agree her standing at the I believe it was a well at the well. Yeah So symbolism there and stuff like that and it was at a moment that you're like, oh, I thought the film was gonna keep going Here but they kind of I you know, I love ending on a strong shot Yeah with films and I thought that shot was absolutely brilliant left you with so many questions But gave you enough answers as well It was just this this this entire film was absolutely and I don't even Artistically, I don't know he would rank these films like gothalla the core three of us And this one and then LJP's film from last equally as of a brilliant film just in a very different way As all these other ones But it all three of us I don't know what would have been left off of our list in terms of best picture because it would have made a really hard we had I think nine I think in our in our best picture and Three of these films that we just saw would have a hundred percent if not one it Been in the been in the conversation for best picture along with a whole bunch of other things I would have changed all the categories acting directing it would have been Very different and that's why you guys the and the final shot you referenced You know that really the the the icing on the cake the cherry on top of the Sunday The piece de resistance is when you reach the end of a film and When they they end it and the feeling you have is a satisfaction that causes you to go Because it's such a good ending This is one of those films. It didn't remind me some people said when they watched this in the holdover back to back They gave them the same like feels I don't know if it gave them the holdovers. Yeah, I was like it was very different feels for me for the holdovers Even though I get it if you do talking like a Satisfied vibe I guess because it is this But the holdovers are very different so I don't very different film I don't know about that because it's it's hard. It will be brilliant any time you do Something with all-timers or dementia Man, those are hard films because next and I should have been When I was talking about the films that are have come out holdovers is another one if you haven't seen the holdovers Please watch the holdovers. It's a great film.  Yeah, beautiful And unfortunately none of these films can be in our dummies next year except for The play obviously the play that came out Unless they end up including some of these in the Oscars, I guess for next year then we'll we'll revisit that and I guess technically Has Berlin had theatrical distribution yet, but we included in last year's So again, we'll see what it does Because yeah, that has not had theatrical distribution but Very strange. I mean maybe this wasn't submitted to The film festival Indian film festival Los Angeles, but very strange that this one wasn't Included. Yeah, but you never know if they actually submitted it So well if they already had Netflix distribution, they probably thought and and Netflix may have said no Well, no Netflix was with the shawlsville Netflix was there. Oh, that's true. Kufia. They were next looks. That's true. That's maybe that's maybe they I don't know. I have no idea. I'm Anyways, if you see it, obviously if you're here, I hope you saw the film already If not filming you now, you're all spoiled.  I feel like if you didn't like it you're weird And what should be the next film we watch down below?


Okay, we're back. We're live on a given Wednesday afternoon, the day before the hurricane's supposed to hit the Big Island, Hurricane Lane. Okay, and we're going to talk about that today here in Hawaii, the state of clean energy. Maria Tomei is our co-host today. Hi, Maria. Hi, Dave. You're great. And we have Shannon Tanganan. She is communications director of Hawaiian Electric Company. And we are delighted to have her here with us. Thanks for coming down, Shannon. Thanks for having me. I know you're busy. Appreciate it. Okay. And on the phone, we have Chris Burgess. He's with Rocky Mountain Institute. And he wrote a report we want to talk about called Solar Under Storm. That's a pretty catchy title. Welcome to the show, Chris. Happy to be here. Thanks. Okay, first up, Shannon. You probably want to tell us something about preparedness, being prepared for this extreme weather coming soon. Well, yes, we definitely want everyone to be prepared. We also want to set expectations. If this storm continues on the track, on this track, and we just want to make sure that people are aware that anytime we have heavy winds, torrential rain, flooding, there is going to be a possibility, highly likely possibility, that there will be outages. So we just want people to plan ahead and make sure that they're prepared for that. Has it worked? If the heavy winds push things around like towers and lines? Well, it pushes lines sometimes. It also will trigger limbs to fall on our lines. That could cause a short. There's just fallen trees, all kinds of things. It's hard to say where and when. I guess I think you worry about mostly the big transmission lines because that affects more people than the little ones. Definitely, definitely. Most of our generation is in central Oahu or Leeward, Oahu. So we just want to make sure that everything is secured in those areas where we've been preparing all week. What have you been doing? I'm really curious because I want to join the company. Sure. We're really tracking, of course. We meet every day. We are trying our best to mobilize crews to where we feel like we need to identify the locations. Identify the remote areas. Maui Electric, for instance, is identifying remote areas and sending employees to that area because we know it'll be difficult to get to these places after the storm has passed. So we're trying to strategically put people where they need to be, equipment where it needs to be. Yeah. I mean, it's pretty exciting and threatening and stressful. Well, it is. And you know, what we're, you know, we're hoping for the best outcome that maybe it'll pass us by. But it's not coming directly over us. At worst, it's coming nearby, not over us yet. Yeah, but the wind and the rain and the flooding, you know, that couldn't take us full, for sure. So what are you going to be doing while this all happens? We have a 24-hour shift. I mean, we have two 12-hour shifts. We're in emergency mode at this point. We have our, we're activating all our emergency action plans. You know, we have operations folks, planning folks, you know, our communications people. Yeah. Everyone has an assignment. It's like a military operation. Yeah, everyone has an assignment. Everybody's in touch on radio and telephone. Yeah, we have satellite phones. And you mobilize all the, all the trucks, all the linemen trucks to go wherever they have to go. Yeah. I mean, but we don't go until it's absolutely safe for them to go. Yeah. That's key for us. So where do you get your data from to know where the storm is and how it's affecting different parts of the islands? We actually get on a call every morning with the National Weather Service. And then we have folks who definitely track it throughout the day. So that we're, we're well aware of its track, where it's headed, what time we think it might hit certain areas. So. Well, if you can get there fast, you know, with the right equipment and the right skills, you can minimize, ameliorate the risk and the damage that might otherwise happen, right? Yeah, definitely. And we want to emphasize too that we've done a lot of work replacing wood poles, replacing wood poles with steel structures. In some instances, we've done about one normal course. Yeah. All the time. Yeah, we spent about $1.5 billion over the last seven years trying to make these types of improvements so that when, you know, we have severe weather, we can weather the storm much better. Yeah. So what would you like to leave with the people today? If there was one message that you wanted to give them on behalf of the utility, what would you tell them they should be thinking about and doing in the two, three days to come? There's camera one. Okay, well, we just want people to understand that there will be power outages if there's severe weather.  You know, we're going to work as quickly as we can, but we're going to be as safe as we can as well. And I guess part of that is stay at home. Going out may not be a great idea. No, because you'll have the roads might not be clear. I would just hunker down. Yeah. Maria, what would you add to all of this? Well, thank you very much for coming. Yeah, I know it's a very stressful time for everybody. And the other thing too is as you prepare, be mindful that sometimes you're you are trying to prepare for the worst. But you really should also take into account safety, you know, you don't need to be getting up on your roof right now to check stuff. Don't don't do that.   Try to keep yourself calm. It's very good. Yeah. In case you didn't think about it, charge your cell phone. It's smart to do that. If you have fair batteries, charge them up. No. Yeah, if you have batteries for your cell phone, charge them up. Because in fact, the carriers all have backup electrical systems, if the power goes out for them, so they can continue to operate and you know, your cell phone works, you can use it. If the towers are up. Yeah. Thank you, Shannon. Thank you so much. I'm hanging on from Hawaiian Electric. Great to have you here as always. Good to be here. Thank you. I hope everything goes okay. Oh, we hope so too. We're going to think positive. Thank you, Shannon. Thank you. Okay, we'll be right back in one minute, and we're going to spend some time with Chris Burgess about his report, which was made around what happened in Puerto Rico. Yeah? Yep. Okay, we'll be right back. Dave Stevens, the host of Cyber Underground. Every Friday here at 1pm on ThinkTechHawaii.com. And then every episode is uploaded to the Cyber Underground. That library of shows that you can see of mine on YouTube.com. And I hope you'll join us here every Friday. We have some topical discussions about why security matters and what could scare the absolute bejesus out of you if you just try to watch my show all the way through. Hope to see you next time on Cyber Underground. Stay safe. Okay, we're back. We're live with Maria Tomei, my co-host here in the studio. And on Zoom, Chris Burgess joins us from, where are you, Chris, anyway? I'm in Washington, D.C. Oh, okay, I knew that. From Washington, D.C. And he's with the Rocky Mountain Institute, and he's the author or co-author of a very important report, which we should look at right now in advance of laying the hurricane. Yeah, well, yeah, so I should introduce the idea here that when I saw this report that came out in June, and when we were going to be talking about sustainability and preparedness and resilience, I thought I'd really like to talk to Chris about this report. So I called him up and said, or actually it was an email and said, Hey, you know, we'd like to hear more about how to design your systems, your solar farms to be more resilient. Because you've done this interesting report going to Puerto Rico and had very down to earth practical lessons from that. I had no idea we would be sitting here the day before the hurricane. Lane arrived, but so it's timely. It's the perfect storm. Oh, God, I hope this is all overblown and nothing serious happens with our hurricane here. But I did want to thank you very much for joining us, Chris. I guess we've got your picture, and we're going to be showing some photos from your report here. Once again, here's the report. It's free. It's on the Rocky Mountain Institute has it on their website. So it is available for download. It's only about 30 33 pages. But it's very good. So it's shocking. Yeah. So the pictures are fantastic. So Chris, thank you so much for your work on the support and for joining us today. I'd like to start with the photo on the cover. So that's the first image we have. And if you could tell us about this photo, please. Yeah, sure. I mean, what might be helpful is just some background. The most active hurricane season we've had was 2017.  And I want to say the Caribbean was almost lulled to sleep a little bit. The last really active hurricane season was way back in 2005. We can think back to Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and the tragedies that happened in New Orleans. And that was really the last time we've had this much devastation in one season. And back then we didn't have a lot of renewable energy systems. Fast forward, you know, was it 13 years? And now you've got a plethora of renewable energy systems all around the Caribbean and just kind of a different mindset on energy to begin with. And now you have all this devastation.  And that did happen. As you can tell by the photo here, which is taken on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. But there was an amazing amount of survivorship in the Caribbean as well. And we really scratched our heads and wanted to know why. So we hired three structural engineers to take multiple site visits to both surviving and failed systems. So this is how we came up with all the data for Solar Understorm. Excellent. Thanks. And so the next picture, page 13 of the report. Can we go back to that first picture for a minute? The first picture really daunting. So it looks like two things happened. One is the solar panels were ripped off their tracks, almost at random. And the second thing that it looks like from that picture is the tracks themselves were twisted and, you know, bent in many places. And I wonder, and this is the worst of it, I guess. First of all, that scene, what we're looking at on the cover of your report, that doesn't work, right? There's no way any electrical power is going to be generated from that mess, right? That's correct. Yeah, this was complete devastation. And unfortunately, this project was really haunted, but with several, you know, missteps. The first one is that many of the bottom through volts that were supposed to hold the bottom rack to the solar modules were actually not torqued or some of them were completely missing. So it was really workmanship where they did not actually complete the job to spec and there wasn't good owner's rep or engineering's representation in terms of checking off, you know, all the workmanship that needs to be done to sign off on this project. The other thing that happened was, because of the clamps that they did use, what you see is what's called cascading failure. So when one module goes, it shares a clamp with the next module. So it's kind of like dominoes when they go off. So anyway, this cover is kind of littered with all kinds of, you know, do nots. And that's pretty explicit in the report. So the next picture that I find very interesting is on page 13. That shows what looks like a devastated field at the top and a pretty intact one at the bottom. Can you tell us about that one? Yeah, so two things happen here. One, there was a topography difference that you can see with the kind of prairie hillside there that's vegetated. The other thing is they actually use two different sets of modules on this. So they didn't have one module manufacturer for the entire farm. And so literally half the farm is one module manufacturer with one clamping system to the racks. And the other one is a totally different brand and a totally different mechanism for fastening the modules to the racks. Wow, that is a significant difference. Yeah. Let me ask you, is there any any chance that any part of this farm was actually producing electricity with this damage as we see? Yeah, yeah, actually about a third of it powered back up. Unfortunately, though, this is a grid connected solar farm in southern Puerto Rico. And because Preppo was down for so many months, this could not actually produce power for the grid. So that's actually the, you know, that will happen in Hawaii too with homes that don't have battery storage. They cannot island without the electricity being on. You haven't had the grid powered up because the inverters have to sense voltage from the grid in order to operate. Very interesting. Unless, of course, the system has been designed to have a separate circuit. Yeah, unless you have a separate critical facility circuit. I'm wondering in the report that would you identify the manufacturer of the of the panels that failed and the manufacturer of the panels that that succeeded? No, we left brand names out of this report. And we just went with specifications for what's called Pascal loading, which is really the downward pressure on the panel and then the uplift pressure on the panel. And you'll see in the recommendations that we recommend a 5400 Pascal uplift rating, which is one of the highest on the tier one market for modules. So we can't name names, but we can name specifications. Then you can figure then the then the developer can figure out which which guys to use and which guys not to use. Yeah. Right, right. Yeah, there's a number of manufacturers that do 5400 uplift rating. Yeah, right. Got it. Okay. So then, you know, there were a lot of systems that were looked at and a lot of information. So on page 15, there was a fishbone diagram that illustrated how much they looked at, you know, different eight different categories of failure modes being grouped together. Everything from materials to equipment to construction methods to people to environment to system design codes and standards and business model. So I think this this is very useful to project developers. Of course, we don't have time today to go into it, but also to the insurance companies and the operators of the system. You know, maybe we can come back to this later if we have time or some other day. But I do think that your perspective on how many different things need to be thought about is very useful. And I like the way you organize the report. So I'd like to take this up again another time. I noticed there are some that are bolded. And I assume that those were the more significant issues. Those are the ones that we observed. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. And we built out the fishbone and what we're called other factors or what's called lurking failure. So there was a failure that happened. But if that failure didn't happen, is there's something looming behind it? It's almost like a mechanical fuse. Oh, right. So, so let's say the, let's say the modules had 5400 Pascal rating. Let's say they were through bolted. Everything were fine. But then there was no lateral bracing on the rack. Yeah. And the whole rack, the whole rack pushed over like a pancake. Oh dear. Right. So that, that would be, that would be a lurking failure where as the modules were fine, but the rack itself could not hold that pressure from a, from an east-west. Yeah. Look, you know, east-west for us. So it folded. So yeah, that's, that's why this fishbone is kind of built out the way it is. Cool. Thanks. Okay. So the next photo is another one showing some panels that survived and some that didn't. Is this similar? Is this one field that had two different types of modules or just? Yeah. Well, this was a combination of just some lack of workmanship. There was, you know, there was some untorked fasteners. And they actually switched, they actually switched fastener methodology halfway through the project. So the modules are the same brand, but the way they fastened them to the rack changed. Geez. Okay. People should be out checking bolts on their solar farms right now. Was the first system, was the first system more successful in the second or was the second system more successful than the first? I don't know what the sequence was. All I know is that you see the racks are fine in that picture. Yeah. It's really just the modules that were uplifted. The clamps basically failed. So this was actually an easy one to repower because all the electrical infrastructure was fine. The structural infrastructure was fine. It was really just the modules themselves that need to be reattached. Cool. Okay. So this brings us to my favorite feature of your report, which is the useful tables by topic with the most important failure modes, mitigation actions and relative cost and impact. So the next graphic is page 19 shows some low cost high impact types of failures that it seems maybe with three days advanced notice of a hurricane company coming. Sorry, it could make some difference if some trained operators of a solar farm went out to check for loose bolts. What do you think? Yeah, I mean just really little stuff like that and just getting a lot of the free debris away from the solar field. Debris can get picked up and smash on the panel. Torquing and checking the bolt torquing is obviously important. And sometimes you have a few days notice to be able to do that. Yeah. But really most of this stuff has to happen during installation. You have to have proper owner's representation checks before the signed off and the final payments for the for the contractor. That's really where you're going to get the best thing for your buck.  We even were contemplating doing some guy wire anchors in the ground, you know, those helical screws, put those in the ground to the north and the south of the rack and then do trucking straps. So the same straps that you know, trucks would use on tractor trailers, which are canvas and Heather Ratchett. Yeah, I was going to ask you about that panel. So did you learn, you know, these have either way these farms were set up. Did you learn whether the placement of the panels and the racks was was ideal? Or did you learn that perhaps it should have been they should have been placed in a different direction, or a different contouring on the land? Did you ever get into that? And my second part of that is, did you did you learn whether it would have been useful? Aside from the guy wires, that sounds pretty good. If the developer built protective protective areas around the side of the farm to protect the wind against the wind coming and sweeping under the racks. Any thought given to that protective barrier of some kind of wall, or some kind of barrier, so that the wind could not get under the racks. Right, yeah. And so, you know, you and I have a very what we think is an intuitive mitigation, right? And I asked that same thing to the structural engineers and they smirked in each other. And what you're doing is you're adding a ton of costs, because you have to build basically a brick or, you know, center block or concrete wall. So it's an enormous amount of cost for all these large utility scale solar farms. And you're really actually exacerbating some of the wind features on the on the plant itself. So what these structural designers do, I learned this along the way, is they actually design the rack, and then they put it into, you know, like a 3D model wind tunnel, a commercial model. And then they can see on that rack from various directions where the weak points are in that rack, and then they will design to this apography. And to the highest wind load of that particular standard. Now the Caribbean was mostly category four. But after Irma and Maria now everyone wants to build the category five. So you're talking about 155 mile an hour plus. So that that's what these structural engineers are doing. What we tried to outline is some of the design steps that you should be making with your racking manufacturer and your structural engineer, but also just some simple best practices. I think the best bang for the buck is really using through bolting. So instead of using clamps, you actually through both the modules to the rack itself, and use a proper torquing method and something that's called niolock that keeps the bolts from vibrating loose. There's a ton of vibration action on that. I can loosen the loosen the nut in the bolt. Yeah. Yeah. And then once that happens, you get these cascading failures, which is a lot of the optics that you see in these pictures. So what about the what about the more detail and Maria has shown me two copies of the report. One is fairly abbreviated. Oh, well, that's just my notes less abbreviated. And then this one is the answer of them has, you know, your scientific data, test results, you know, detailed documentation. Is there is there a third copy of the report, Chris? No, like I said, we were not trying to replace any of the, you know, any of the engineering standards, like, you know, Miami-Dade wooden codes or anything like that. We were basically identifying best practices and literally identifying what we saw as failure modes in the last two hurricanes, say at the Caribbean. So we view this as an informing document for the insurers and for governments and other jurisdictions that are going to set when standards with the purpose of this report was not to go into detail for when we didn't have the budget into that's really not what the Rocky Mountain Institute wants to do. We want to make sure that we get the best information to other decision makers that they do this for a living. Curious also, the report was the photographs were taken. The report was written when a few months ago? No, we started, we, we started our investigation in late November. Field work concluded after the holidays, I guess, early February. And then we collaborated with several authors from February to about May. And then I think we finally released the print version in June. So we were trying to make that, we were trying to make that June first start a hurricane seedling deadline. So is it fair to say that the damage that is shown in these photographs has, has all been repaired by now? No, it's not fair to say, you know, many of the solar farms in Puerto Rico, you know, are still under either litigation or still waiting on insurance money. But let's see, Anguilla has an RFP up now to repower theirs. That one has not been replaced yet. Turks and Caicos and and BDI both were survivors. I mean, they had less than 5% of their modules were uplifted of damage. So they have been repowered. Yeah, it's kind of a mixed bag to say that you check. Maria, you have a couple more pictures, you know? Yeah, yeah. So there were a couple more tables. I don't know that we have much time, but they have pictures too. So the next table, page 20, had mentioned something about trackers and item three a number five will specify specify trackers included in the project be designed for worst case wind exposure, no stole position for extreme wind allowed. So I just had a quick question. Is the the trackers with a stole position are bad or they're supposed to do their analysis without assuming that it's able to avoid the wind? Do you know? Or is that just one of those? No, yeah, this really came from FDX solar, they used to work for Sun Edison, and they do a ton of renewable energy consulting around solar structures. Yeah. And we we do not have a lot of trackers in the Caribbean. I've got 26 projects in the Caribbean, none of them are trackers. Oh, okay. track. So we didn't actually have any fieldwork on trackers, they added that because it's kind of a misconception with some of the developers that they can go in still mode. And that's going to be safe. So still is not necessarily necessarily safe. It's not a free pass. All right, as you as you can see in, you know, the picture on the cover, you know, the tilt on that the tilt on that project is extremely low. Yeah, probably, you know, five percent, which would be the equivalent equivalent of a stow mode. Yeah, and tracker and that didn't see the damage. Yeah, right. So the next table from page 21 shows a problem very common in Hawaii with corrosion. Was this a major impact in Puerto Rico? A lot of the the installations of Puerto Rico were fairly new. So we actually didn't see a ton of corrosion there. That corrosion picture comes from a system on US Virgin Islands that had been there for, I want to say six years. And as you can see, obviously, it didn't use the proper galvanation of proper material there. And that just vibrated, literally vibrated loose. Yeah, okay. So yeah, this, thanks so much for putting together the report. And it gives a lot of insights, especially for those of us who have not personally been through a direct hit of a major hurricane, for example, and we don't have a graphic for this, but on page 23 item 60 says rain intrusion into combiner boxes or inverters. Even if it meets NEMA specification is hurricane wind blowing sideways can penetrate NEMA three. So I guess, yeah, there are a lot of things that you can improve, you know, just the waterproofing of things just think horizontal rain driven at high, high rates of speed are going to get into areas it shouldn't get even the findings and the recommendations of this report. What's your advice to Hawaii on the eve of its own hurricane tomorrow? What, you know, what, what should we learn? What, what would you advise us to be conscious of from this report? You know, well, first of all, obviously, you know, human health and safety is first and foremost, take care of families, stay indoors, you know, all the level headed advice that we heard in your earlier segment is front and center. In terms of solar, there's probably not much you can do right now. But in the aftermath that would be interesting to learn, you know, depending on the amount of extreme wind events that you do get on the Big Island, what survived and what failed and then we can kind of, you know, look into we'll look into why that happened. There are several things that you can probably do after the storm is just to make sure you didn't have any water penetration on your inverters or your combined boxes. You know, make sure that system's powered down before you do look at that. Go back and check the, the bolts and the rack, make sure it hasn't vibrated itself loose, or you don't have loose nuts and bolts. These are all good, you know, operation and maintenance tasks that you can do before and after a storm. And then what we really, you know, claim in this report is this isn't a Bible that is going to guarantee any type of survival. It's more of a start of a collaboration. So we've actually got a working group on a website called Carrick. It's the Caribbean Renewable Energy Community. We've got members from over 60 countries all around the world. We'd be happy to invite Hawaii to that as well. We really want to learn from, from more data. Jay, as you mentioned, you know, this, this is devoid of direct data and that's on purpose. You know, we want to make sure that we keep up a really open source database from all over the world so we can continue to improve the resiliency of these renewable energy systems. Because when they are, when they are resilient, they're extremely powerful. One of the major crisis in Puerto Rico, as we're uncovering all these investigations there, is not really that the power was down, is that the services that power provides were down, right? So your medical services, your water pumping, your water treatment, ultimately was responsible for over 99% of the desperate store. You know, the preparation from the water facilities was there in terms of having gasoline and diesel backup generators. But when they were cut off from their fuel supply, after a few days, the water stopped pumping. If those water treatment systems and those water pumping stations had solar and storage microgrids that could survive the storm, then they would have water for you know, four to six hours a day without PREFA coming back on. Well, one thing, one thing is clear is that whenever you have a storm these days in the new world of extreme weather, you have to make this kind of analysis after you have to learn from everything so that the next time you're better prepared. So your report is very important to us. And so is your appearance at our show, Chris. Thanks. Thanks for coming down. Maria, thanks for setting it up. Thanks. Unfortunately, we're out of time, I think. Yeah, I think we are. Yeah. But we can schedule more discussion later, maybe after we see what Hurricane Lane does or doesn't do to some of our systems. And as you mentioned, there's a lot being built and a lot of potential with the solar and microgrid and the backup and the more resilient system that we're going to be developing this for a long time. Thank you, Chris. Chris Burgess, Rocky Mountain Institute. Thank you so much for appearing on our show. Thank you both. And you guys stay safe. Thanks, Chris. Aloha.


I always say this makes for the next creation. Yes, we are looking at the Expo and Expo 2023 in Doha. When we talk about the Expo, we never feel information about the higher hand or the higher users. But the question was coming in from one of the viewers and the question is that how do you benefit? What do you benefit from? What do you call volunteering? Yes, we had very many experiences for people who worked in the work of the world. It was a very good experience. I personally speaking myself about volunteering in the work of the world. Yes, I had some benefits. Look at few tickets matches that I watched. I was able to get a higher card. I have a higher card. I can invite anyone to come. I can sponsor anyone to come. That's one benefit I would say. Yes, most of the types. When we do this kind of work, for example, when you look at the volunteering work, we are definitely looking at what you call the money itself. Yes, the money might be the first number one priority. But later on, as time keeps on moving, you realize that this is something that you benefited that is more than something that you want to take. I think most of you will understand. Yes, sometimes you have what you call the higher expectations. The expectations versus what you call the reality of it all. Yes, apparently, let us first try to look at the whole issue of the work for people who are being recruited from outside when you fit in. Because they were working what you call Shota period, three months, six months, but earlier or any more salary compared to the people who are local, who were hired on what you call work visa or what you call visa sponsorship. But something that definitely you also need to understand that those volunteer jobs at that time during the World Cup were for Shota period of time. Those that were so lucky at that time would get at six months. Those who are unlucky would have at three months. But knowing that out of those three months or six months you are going to be earning what is even bigger than what the person locally hire sponsored by that company. Yes, there are a lot of things in between, but let us not try to go into the details of that. Volunteering itself, first of all, it gives you the exposure, it gives you the experience, the exposure that you need to see what other people, what other cultures behave like, what other people have to offer, what can you learn from the other people. That is one experience. I personally myself with all my experience that I would definitely say this is what I call. We meet different kind of people. There are approaches. They will see us from the business. They will recognize us from the business. They will see and notice us from the business. That is one thing that we need to know. Something that I always tell people is that do the work with passion of yours by yourself. Do it with what you call them out. Do it with what you call the liking. Do it with that kind of passion that you're doing something that you enjoy at the end of it or you never going to regret. Look at the different diversity of courage that you get from it. We meet different people. We know how they live. We know how to enjoy. People who went there for the work up there for the content. You can really remember the atmosphere that existed at that time. When people would sing for this end, the loud music shall give or enjoy from one corner of the country and the extreme end corner of the other corner of the same country. Trouble from border to border. I personally got an opportunity to travel close to another border because of the frontier which I would not have got at that time. Okay, now we are looking at what we call the expo right now. The advantage is that you meet different people. You meet different employers. Be yourself. You never know what comes out tomorrow. That person will look on to you. He will look on to you from the distance and you never know. The next thing you approach that person you will be the friendship. The day you meet that person you will definitely say, come, I am able, I am willing or I will do for you this and I will definitely do it. Mirapos do happens. But how to start is just getting you prepared. Look at the skills definitely what you get out of the skills. You get a lot of skills how to deal with pressure, how to deal with a lot of things, how to deal with this, how to go with this one, how even the confidence itself builds in you that you are able to start in a crowd of different people and you be yourself. You do everything passionately by yourself or passionately with what you call love. Which I like about volunteer. Yes, I never regret myself for volunteering in the work and what I see right now is just the benefits and the benefits of the world cup will go ahead. That I never thought of looking at money fast as the number one priority. I looked at what do I benefit of myself. How do I get outside my scope of my whole thinking and giving myself to the world that they cannot save me, that I can be a better person or I can do better things or I can do better work than I was doing at that time. So those are some of the advantages. Mourn culture, exchanging values, meeting new friends, you can meet new friends, you may even get away from the many, many good friends. We depend on them. You get trouble. We get painful, we get trouble here. You may have to identify another country or a world. We have a lot of volunteers that are happening around the world. And remember, we are not experiencing the same in one world. And this is exactly what I have to tell you. I personally have been invited to volunteer in the Uriwa Desta the UEFA. Okay? The Euro in Germany have already applied and approved because I had the experience with Mourn culture. With my role in the Mourn culture it is just enough for me to have been approved. Yes. Without even taking me through a lot of questioning. It was approved. It is the same thing that you can hear. Yes, come as a volunteer if definitely you are ready to come as a volunteer. Come, take on the role. Get the experience in the Gulf. Get the experience, the cultures, the Gulf experience. Now, most of the jobs here in the Gulf countries we are asking the Gulf experience. Let's say for example you are out of this country and you don't know how what you call the Gulf experience. What do you think it's going to be? You need the Gulf experience in one or the other. That is exactly what you need. So volunteer insert is going to give you that scope, wider scope for you to have the experience in one way or the other. Which is going to benefit you. You can still move on and check out the companies. Yes, one-on-one Hello, my name is this. I can do this. This when you hire me I will do this and when I get out of the country I can do this I cannot be able to do this. That's how we portion tend to do it and get the connection in one or the other. So as they allow it all you become doing it. Okay. Yes, so for people who are expecting money don't put money as the first priority if you are going to go out. You never give out the productive to yourself. That's what I have to do. And you get disappointed but if you give in I'm going to get annex for which I think beyond money. I think for people who are living right now in Qatar you may have a very big advantage opportunity for life. Unless we want to think we talk about our brothers and sisters outside the country but you in Qatar and you can volunteer you have enough time you have some free time give it for volunteer get the certificate get that everything you need. Take it all. What else do you need? Take it all. It's enough going to give you and give you alumni especially if you want to look for something that's a little bit better and better in that life. Hope I've tried to share something for you. By the way thank you so much for liking the expression and thank you so much for subscribing. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I have been official out of what you call the official work that I'm back and I'm going to give you and I'm going to give you all that you need every single day every single day and I'll be updating you. Thank you so much for subscribing. If you do not like this thank you so much. Please like, comment and always review more about how it came up to you. Remember this next next question TV giving you all the best. You can also check in my other channel it's called endless inspirations under Malcolm X TV it's called endless inspiration. Remember we talk about the guidance also we talk about how life we can do and what we can do to get better answer but don't forget to subscribe also to endless inspirations get into what you call my TikTok account administration team these are the things I definitely get to share I get to talk about these are really everyday things that we talk about in life okay this is what exactly that we need to know and we need to understand everything we get to do is a step by step a step by step and if you really focus at one or another don't let anyone step from your journey you know who knows tomorrow you may be someone else who knows today you may be someone else which I definitely I pray for everyone to have very very hard time thank you so much for subscribing and thank you so much for support remember I'm Tokyo I'm mixed from the next question see you again in the next video