Now that the kook has been dispatched, let's get back on topic.
Yesterday the SF Chronicle reported "Google banking on Solar", see:
Google invests $280 million to spur home solar
They are teamed up with SolarCity and will finance the installation of solar panels on 8,000 to 9,500 homes in the Bay Area.
And of course this:
Tesla to Sell Electric Model X in 2013, Make as Many as 15,000
The echo chamber will continue to offer nothing but reactionary bullshit as innovative entrepreneurs develop and market 'smart' cars, cars which after an initial investment protect the environment and begin to reduce our addiction to oil - something even George W. Bush acknowledged.
And the mass exodus of "green jobs" continues to China. Hundreds of millions of dollars going to China. That money was supposed to stay here in the US, but no. The government wonks couldn't be bothered to put a clause in the contract for the money that the jobs had to stay here. Nope, that would have been smart. We have no problem with innovation. But our money keeps magiacally going overseas. That we have a problem with.
And Tesla selling 15,000 luxury EV's to the rich and famous is a fatuous argument. Toyota sells 3,000 of it's more popular vehicles A MONTH! That is multiple lines with sales of over 40,000 per year. A couple of their lines sell 15,000 per month. I thought the goal was to sell EV's to the masses? I thought the goal was to build up an entire new infrastructure that would wean us off of fossil fuels....here's a hint 15,000 vehicles ain't gonna cut it.
"Aided by at least $43 million in assistance from the government of Massachusetts and an innovative solar energy technology, Evergreen Solar emerged in the last three years as the third-largest maker of solar panels in the United States.
Matthew Cavanaugh for The New York Times
Michael El-Hillow, chief executive of Evergreen, said falling prices for panels led to the closing.
But now the company is closing its main American factory, laying off the 800 workers by the end of March and shifting production to a joint venture with a Chinese company in central China. Evergreen cited the much higher government support available in China."
And....
Solar-Panel Maker to Close a Factory and Delay Expansion
By TODD WOODY
Published: November 3, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO Solyndra, a Silicon Valley solar-panel maker that won half a billion dollars in federal aid to build a state-of-the-art robotic factory, plans to announce on Wednesday that it will shut down an older plant and lay off workers.
Solyndra opened Fab 2, a $733 million factory to make its high-tech solar panels. It plans to close an older facility, shown here.
The cost-cutting move, which will reduce the companys previously announced production capacity, is a sign of the notable shift in the prospects for cutting-edge American solar companies, which now face intense price competition from Chinese manufacturers that use more established photovoltaic technologies.
Just seven weeks ago, Solyndra opened Fab 2, a $733 million factory in Fremont, Calif., to make its high-tech solar panels. The new plant was supposed to be the first phase of a rapid expansion of the company.
Instead, Solyndra has decided to shutter the old plant and postpone plans to expand Fab 2, which was built with a $535 million federal loan guarantee.
Fab 2 is much more efficient and cost-effective than our existing facility, Brian Harrison, Solyndras chief executive, said in an interview. Were adjusting our plans to be more in line with where the market is and where our business is at the moment.
When Solyndra filed for an initial public stock offering in December, it estimated it would have a total production capacity of 610 megawatts by 2013 if its two plants were fully built out. The company now expects it have capacity of 285 to 300 megawatts by 2013.
Solyndra abandoned plans for the stock offering in June, citing market conditions"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/15/business/energy-environment/15solar.html
Solyndra, a Solar-Panel Maker, Will Close a Plant - NYTimes.com