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Scot Mussi, the executive director of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a conservative group that opposes Arizona's net metering policies, maintains that the program is a giveaway funded by non-solar ratepayers. "At the end of the day, these are subsidies," he said. "What this boils down to is whether there should be any sort of subsidies for customers on the grid. The way it stands now is that net metering picks winners and losers in the energy markets through ratepayers' utility bills."
But national surveys show overwhelming support for solar energy and other renewables. A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in September found that 73 percent of Americansincluding 58 percent of Republicanssupport increasing federal funding for solar, wind, and hydrogen, and 58 percent believe developing renewables should be at the top of the U.S. energy agenda. Of the latter group, 72 percent of respondents are younger than 30, according to Pew. Solar resonates on so many levelswith people who care about environmental justice, and health, and global warmingbut interestingly, where were also seeing support is on the right, with people who care about competition, said Ed Fenster, CEO of the solar leasing company SunRun. Republican interest groups spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to poke fun at Solyndra, but Republicans have generally made up their mind that solar power is a good thing.
Conservative think tanks like Cato and the Heritage Foundation have been silent on the issue of net metering and energy choice, the preferred buzzwords that conservative solar advocates use to describe their support for net metering. At the state level, powerful conservative organizations like ALEC, the Heartland Institute, and Americans for Prosperity are waging an aggressive fight against green energy, pushing forward model legislation to repeal renewable energy standards and cut state subsidies for solar power. So far, however, these efforts have been thwarted, even in Republican-led states like North Carolina, Idaho, and Louisiana.
In Georgia, Tea Party activists broke their longstanding ties with AFP over the solar issue, citing an individuals right to choose his or her own energy source. The result was the emergence of the Green Tea Coalition, a strange political coupling between Tea Party Patriots and Sierra Club environmentalists that successfully lobbied state regulators to increase solar mandates for utility giant Georgia Power. We're approaching this from a free-market energy freedom choice perspective, said Debbie Dooley, the outspoken activist behind the Green Tea Coalition. The national coordinator for the Tea Party Patriots, Dooley says she is working with other Tea Party leaders to set up Green Tea Coalitions in states across the South, including Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
Solar power is economically unfeasible for most of the nation.................
It costs too dang much to put in the grid, and by the time you pay for it, you'll have to spend it again to replace the dang thing as it will wear out like any other device out there.
It doesn't have the cost to return ratio needed to make it the choice of Americans.
Who can afford $35,000 plus installation to get a whole grid solar system installed.....................
It certainly isn't the masses..............
Weather can damage it...........
Cells will go bad.............
Batteries will have to be replaced..........
Inverters will go bad as well.................
Again, not a cost effective way to cause the market to grow...........
Until that changes, it's not going to take off..............
In the mid west, where there is a pretty constant wind, you'd be better off with using wind power. Even that is expensive to start, but it's more economically feasible there.
solar power is fringe and will continue to be for the next few decades.
Don't take my word for it though.......that's what Obamas EIA says!!!
EIA Report Estimates Growth of U.S. Energy Economy Through 2040 | Department of Energy
Are graphs awesome or what??
The U.S. installed 832 megawatts (MW) in Q2 2013, representing 15 percent growth over the first quarter of this year
The U.S. installed 832 megawatts (MW) in Q2 2013, representing 15 percent growth over the first quarter of this year
And how much of it contitutes the overall MW on the aggregate?
The U.S. installed 832 megawatts (MW) in Q2 2013, representing 15 percent growth over the first quarter of this year
And how much of it contitutes the overall MW on the aggregate?
You realize that the fuel is free, right?
The U.S. installed 832 megawatts (MW) in Q2 2013, representing 15 percent growth over the first quarter of this year
And how much of it contitutes the overall MW on the aggregate?
You realize that the fuel is free, right?
And how much of it contitutes the overall MW on the aggregate?
You realize that the fuel is free, right?
That didnt answer my question. And more over, it is not "free". There are many processes, chemicals, resources, etc that go into the build and the maintenance of solar power systems.
Again, how much of the aggregate supply of energy comes from solar power?
And how much of it contitutes the overall MW on the aggregate?
You realize that the fuel is free, right?
The fuel might be free... But it's only available AT BEST for 6 hours a day. AND the costs of putting more of it on the grid are massive. As California is now finding out and the Germans already know..
You took a pass on "Renewables are Now More Expensive in Cali".. But those football field size $500MILL battery storage buildings are gonna start impacting people's impression of "free fuel"...
AND create a toxic waste stream that take the "green" right off the label...
As for OP --- there are silly zealots in both parties. And I aint relying on "consensus" here either..
A 5 kw system, panels, wiring, and grid interconnect, can be had for under $10,000 at present, and under $5000 in the near future.
And nobody is telling you to get a system. That is your choice if you wish to be independent and power your own home and even your own vehicle.
U.S. Solar Market Insight | SEIA
U.S. Solar Market Insight
The U.S. installed 832 megawatts (MW) in Q2 2013, representing 15 percent growth over the first quarter of this year
You realize that the fuel is free, right?
The fuel might be free... But it's only available AT BEST for 6 hours a day. AND the costs of putting more of it on the grid are massive. As California is now finding out and the Germans already know..
You took a pass on "Renewables are Now More Expensive in Cali".. But those football field size $500MILL battery storage buildings are gonna start impacting people's impression of "free fuel"...
AND create a toxic waste stream that take the "green" right off the label...
As for OP --- there are silly zealots in both parties. And I aint relying on "consensus" here either..
Oh so if your fellow Republicans disagree with you, THEY are the zealots, are they" Interesting.
Oh, and I do have to ask - in what solar system is sunlight only available for 6 hours per day? Secondly, who is talking about this technology as if it is going to REPLACE every other energy source?
The fuel might be free... But it's only available AT BEST for 6 hours a day. AND the costs of putting more of it on the grid are massive. As California is now finding out and the Germans already know..
You took a pass on "Renewables are Now More Expensive in Cali".. But those football field size $500MILL battery storage buildings are gonna start impacting people's impression of "free fuel"...
AND create a toxic waste stream that take the "green" right off the label...
As for OP --- there are silly zealots in both parties. And I aint relying on "consensus" here either..
Oh so if your fellow Republicans disagree with you, THEY are the zealots, are they" Interesting.
Oh, and I do have to ask - in what solar system is sunlight only available for 6 hours per day? Secondly, who is talking about this technology as if it is going to REPLACE every other energy source?
Told you.. I'm not a Republican.. Doesn't score any points with me or replace my judgement and analysis.. Dont care much at all about "endorsements" when it comes to anything. But when the topic is science and technology --- doesn't matter AT ALL...
Have you never seen a daily production chart for solar? Most installations are FIXED and the angular acceptance is even WORSE than the chart I present below...
Note: The chart is INCIDENT RADIATION -- not output.. NOT adjusted for fixed angle.. The 70% points for production are about a 6 hour span.. For a COMMERCIAL generator -- that's a big fuckin deal..
As for your last "observation" about WHO is saying that solar is gonna REPLACE any other tech... Every idiot that got surveyed in the OP who call it an "ALTERNATIVE" or believes that it is.. That would be the MAJORITY of them..
