Kilowatts and kilowatt-hours
From ShawnReevesWiki
It seems more often than not that when i read an article in a newspaper, the writers and editors confuse kilowatts for kilowatt-hours, or vice versa. I will keep a list here.
- Winchester Among Mass. Towns Investing To Make Solar Energy Affordable
- By Todd Gutner, WBZ-TV Chief Meteorologist
- July 21, 2011 2:45 PM
- http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/07/21/winchester-among-mass-towns-investing-to-make-solar-energy-affordable/#.TinW2nTM3s0.twitter
- "Several rebates and tax credits will lower upfront costs even more, and there’s a system that pays the homeowners for every 1000 kilowatts they produce."
- Turning Warehouses into Solar Powerhouses
- July 18, 2011
- http://www.nrel.gov/features/20110718_energyexecs.html
- "The projected energy generated from Project Amp after four years is approximately 733 megawatts (MW) of solar power, which is similar to the total amount of PV power installed in the entire U.S. in 2010."
I wrote to the author at NREL to clarify the press release if possible. In the above sentence, it looks like the author didn't want to use the proper word 'power' as the subject, since it is repeated at the end of the first clause, and that repetition would be stylistically awkward. However, it is improper to use energy as a synonym, and accuracy is more important than style in an informative article like this.