We’re all for solar panels – and all “alternative” forms of energy production. We don’t necessarily buy into the whole global warming theory, but we do think humans have an obligation to be good stewards of the planet they’ve inherited.
Solar power and other clean energy sources provide us with ways to be good stewards … not to mention solar is an energy source which is abundantly available at a time when energy consumption is at its highest.
“Solar produces power when utilities need it most,” one advocate told FITS recently, referring to peak summer months.
Again … fine by us. Of course while we embrace clean energy, we do not support taxpayer subsidies for solar provides (a la Solyndra) nor we do support energy tax hikes which go to fund an unwieldy, unaccountable environmental bureaucracy. Alternative energy sources need to be market-driven – and there is no greater big government scam than the notion of “green jobs.”
Speaking of the free market, it currently costs an estimated $32,000 to install a residential solar system – an investment which pays for itself in about five or six years. Recognizing the potential for profit, solar companies are looking to set up shop in South Carolina – hoping to take advantage of stacked state and federal tax credits which would enable them to recoup more than 55 percent of the installation costs.
There’s a problem though … South Carolina’s state-owned public utility (that’s right, our state runs a friggin’ utility company) and the electric cooperatives it powers are fighting them tooth and nail. Why? Because they don’t want to lose customers, naturally.
In fact the cooperatives and their bought-and-paid for politicians – like S.C. Rep. Bill Sandifer (RINO-Seneca) – are pushing hard against legislation which would allow third parties to take advantage of these credits.
Hmmmm … we’ve got to be honest: We’re more than a little bit confused here. In a battle between a subsidized industry and a government-run industry, who should the taxpayers support?
According to solar proponents, the state-owned utilities are fighting for “the preservation of electric monopolies in the face of evolving technologies, falling prices, and innovative financing mechanism which are attracting significant private capital investments.”
That’s true … but it’s easy to get investment when you only have to pay 45 percent of the cost, right?
What’s a taxpayer advocate to do …
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22 comments
Considering the rough shape of the shingles on that roof, the owner would have been better off to have spent the money on a new roof.
Why not invent solar shingles? Redo your roof AND save money on your power bill!
hush smirks, that would energy research money not going into oil exploration
Considering the rough shape of the shingles on that roof, the owner would have been better off to have spent the money on a new roof.
Why not invent solar shingles? Redo your roof AND save money on your power bill!
hush smirks, that would energy research money not going into oil exploration
Geez……..where do we start with answering the vagueness of this article..? Like the history of OIL has not consistently been subsidized itself..!!
How is the cost of BLOOD calculated when compared to the cost of solar panels..!?
Geez…!
Geez……..where do we start with answering the vagueness of this article..? Like the history of OIL has not consistently been subsidized itself..!!
How is the cost of BLOOD calculated when compared to the cost of solar panels..!?
Geez…!
smirks – that technology platform exists since years
http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/products/three-manufacturers-of-solar-shings/
smirks – that technology platform exists since years
http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/products/three-manufacturers-of-solar-shings/
My electric bills vary from $200 to $250 per month (all electric) on a 2,100 square foot home with four adults (the boys have graduated high school) but to make it easy lets call it $300 per month average. That $32,000 dollar investment would pay for itself in 9 years, if it generated all my electricity. It wouldn’t generate all my electricity, couldn’t possibly, in fact I would be lucky if it generated half of my electricity so now I’m looking at ROI of 18 years, lets call it 15 years. What are the chances that this thing will function flawlessly for 15 years? So there will be maintenance costs and the hassle of cleaning it. Sometime during that 15 years the shingles will have to be replaced which will cost about double because they will likely have to remove the solar panels and put them back, plus fix whatever damage occurs during that operation.
Those salesmen can sell ice makers to Eskimos and you will be suckered into one of these things and be happy you did, for a few years, then misery sets in and you start looking to sell the house before the problems become to obvious. I will never buy something like this and neither will my brother. He bought a house with solar and had problems with it from the start and ended up scrapping it when he re-shingled his house a few years later. That was another nightmare, scrapping the solar panels. If one of these salesmen comes to your door close the door quickly. If they stop you at the mall or home & garden show call out “hey Bob!” and run to a stranger a hundred feet away but don’t start talking to these people or you will end up buying misery and financing it.
Exactly.
My electric bills vary from $200 to $250 per month (all electric) on a 2,100 square foot home with four adults (the boys have graduated high school) but to make it easy lets call it $300 per month average. That $32,000 dollar investment would pay for itself in 9 years, if it generated all my electricity. It wouldn’t generate all my electricity, couldn’t possibly, in fact I would be lucky if it generated half of my electricity so now I’m looking at ROI of 18 years, lets call it 15 years. What are the chances that this thing will function flawlessly for 15 years? So there will be maintenance costs and the hassle of cleaning it. Sometime during that 15 years the shingles will have to be replaced which will cost about double because they will likely have to remove the solar panels and put them back, plus fix whatever damage occurs during that operation.
Those salesmen can sell ice makers to Eskimos and you will be suckered into one of these things and be happy you did, for a few years, then misery sets in and you start looking to sell the house before the problems become to obvious. I will never buy something like this and neither will my brother. He bought a house with solar and had problems with it from the start and ended up scrapping it when he re-shingled his house a few years later. That was another nightmare, scrapping the solar panels. If one of these salesmen comes to your door close the door quickly. If they stop you at the mall or home & garden show call out “hey Bob!” and run to a stranger a hundred feet away but don’t start talking to these people or you will end up buying misery and financing it.
Exactly.
UCLA has found a way to convert 1 photon into multiple electrons using a cheaply produced carbon based paint called graphene thats ready for massproduction. they have also developed an atom-thick capacitor that can hold a charge better than most batteries out of graphene. graphene is basically charcoal spray paint
UCLA has found a way to convert 1 photon into multiple electrons using a cheaply produced carbon based paint called graphene thats ready for massproduction. they have also developed an atom-thick capacitor that can hold a charge better than most batteries out of graphene. graphene is basically charcoal spray paint
Power from the Sun? What next—-wireless communications….perhaps even a vast international system, a “web” of connectedness???
My fellow Neanderthals, let’s try to embrace a little futurism——-especially as we sit at our coal-fired computing devices.
Power from the Sun? What next—-wireless communications….perhaps even a vast international system, a “web” of connectedness???
My fellow Neanderthals, let’s try to embrace a little futurism——-especially as we sit at our coal-fired computing devices.
Below is a link to a story about problems with wind power. There are similarities with solar in that we are only told of the good things associated with it and not the bad and the good things are overblown to help sell the idea to people that won’t do their own research.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/26/cape-cod-community-considers-taking-down-wind-turbines-after-illness-noise/?test=latestnews
My brother works for a multi-state power company and he says there are many complaints about their wind installations but the way they site the wind turbines and run the contracts it is individual land owners who have to fight the battles and the power company makes out whether the turbines are used, taken down or run part time (at a loss). Again when I read things like this I think of PT Barnum “there’s a sucker born every minute”.
Below is a link to a story about problems with wind power. There are similarities with solar in that we are only told of the good things associated with it and not the bad and the good things are overblown to help sell the idea to people that won’t do their own research.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/26/cape-cod-community-considers-taking-down-wind-turbines-after-illness-noise/?test=latestnews
My brother works for a multi-state power company and he says there are many complaints about their wind installations but the way they site the wind turbines and run the contracts it is individual land owners who have to fight the battles and the power company makes out whether the turbines are used, taken down or run part time (at a loss). Again when I read things like this I think of PT Barnum “there’s a sucker born every minute”.
For anybody that might still be reading this story here is more information about solar panels. This is a company that knowingly sold defective solar panels and then went bankrupt (also got a $400M 0bama loan). Read down in the story about disposing of the malfunctioning panels as “hazardous waste”. Imagine a homeowner trying to deal with this years later after his panels cease functioning.
http://blog.heritage.org/2013/03/01/bankruptcy-filings-allege-abound-solar-aware-of-defective-panels/
Without government subsidies solar would be a miniscule industry catering to a niche market. Subsidizing energy is NOT a government function.
For anybody that might still be reading this story here is more information about solar panels. This is a company that knowingly sold defective solar panels and then went bankrupt (also got a $400M 0bama loan). Read down in the story about disposing of the malfunctioning panels as “hazardous waste”. Imagine a homeowner trying to deal with this years later after his panels cease functioning.
http://blog.heritage.org/2013/03/01/bankruptcy-filings-allege-abound-solar-aware-of-defective-panels/
Without government subsidies solar would be a miniscule industry catering to a niche market. Subsidizing energy is NOT a government function.