Debunking the Debunker: Epic Derailing of a Climate Change Denier
#3 – Myth: Solar power is way too ridiculously expensive
First to the ridiculous $60/watt claim. It absolutely ignores the lifetime of that Home Depot solar kit, which is vital to any real analysis of cost. Assuming the industry norm for solar panel warranties, the panel(s) should last for at least 20 years. And assuming an average of four hours of daily sunlight, the panels will produce 800 watt-hours of electricity per day (.8 kWh), which equals 292 kWh per year, or 5,840 kWh over 20 years, and a long-term cost of about 20 cents per kilowatt-hour. That, by the way, equals about 0.02 cents per watt. Obviously in that time span, upgrades to inverter, charge controller and batteries will be necessary, and some deductions from production estimates should be factored in due to losses at the inverter, etc. However, none of these are likely to raise the cost from two-hundredths of a penny to $60 per watt.
Now, solar power is currently more expensive than conventional power sources. There’s no denying that. In fact, that is the very reason why it is incentivized—to encourage growth of the industry so that demand, manufacturing capacity and technology will combine to reduce costs to a competitive level. Already, despite still-high costs per kilowatt-hour, we are seeing the effects of solar and renewable energy subsidies as costs continue to fall.
Even without any subsidy whatsoever, solar energy costs are dropping, down about 6 cents per kWh on the residential, small-scale side, and about 3 cents per kWh in the large-scale, industrial sector (according to SolarBuzz data) between 2001 and 2009. Granted, prices still hang between 19 and 35 cents/kWh depending on sector, but the trend is downward, and significantly, over a time span of less than 10 years. This trend is expected to continue into the foreseeable future, thanks in large part to subsidies, which are also in place to avoid a much worse, socioeconomically-frightening energy scarcity later on when fossil fuel supplies run out.
Subsidies are making solar power affordable for some right now. Down the road, it will be these early adopters that make solar affordable for everyone else.
Posted on August 17th in Solar Information by Dan.
August 18th, 2010 at 9:25 am
I am pro-solar, pro-wind, pro-renewables, pro-energy efficiency, pro-recycling and I am pro-Rush , pro-America . 100% against the enemy fraud King oumgbama, Pelosi, Reid, communism and izlamic supremacy.
I drive a hybrid, a bicycle (when possible) and I am energy efficient to the max. So there ! Another myth busted.
By ignorantly painting the world black and white, you paint yourself into a corner.
BTW, I am not a republican nor a real blind idiot democrat.
August 18th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
We’re not trying to paint the issue B&W at all…just this one example of a single conservative closing his/her eyes to the world. In no way are we saying that all conservatives think or act this way. I am very happy that you’re pro-renewable energy. Despite anyone’s beliefs on climate change, it just makes sense to move toward alternative energy. It cuts down on pollution in the air we all breathe, it reduces our dependency on foreign oil and that finicky group OPEC, takes money that trickles down to extremists in that region away, and is a safer option (no heading miles offshore for drilling or fear of being trapped in a cave with no escape)! Thanks for your input, always appreciated.
August 20th, 2010 at 9:59 am
I posed this comment to the conservative’s blog:
Those pennies you pay per watt of electricity? Those are artificially low. Those prices are kept down by some 70 billion in subsidies to the fossil fuel industries. Most of that money goes to oil, to keep gas prices artificially low (and oil companies profits artificially high).
The subsidies for green energy are minuscule compared to the money this country is hemorrhaging into burning more hydrocarbons. Which is completely unnecessary since we can get all the power we need free from the sun.
August 23rd, 2010 at 3:56 pm
How anyone can proudly state they’re “pro-Rush” is beyond me….
September 6th, 2010 at 9:36 am
This is definitely a sensitive and passionate topic. But for the original article at hand, Taylen’s myth debunkings don’t require global warming to be a reality. They don’t require that we are adding and must offset any percentage of emissions. Preparing against such things is just a nice—nay, _awesome_—side effect of using a cleaner energy.
Forget names, forget political lines, forget any sort of labels. If the end result is power _and_ a cleaner place to live and breathe, even by 1.5% or .75% or 98% or .001%, I’d say we’re doing something right. A lot of somethings.
I posted a longer comment at ol’ no-name’s, but this is the gist of it.
September 6th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Glad to see the troops rally! Thanks for your help in debunking, fellow solar advocates! Ken, you have an excellent point. The cheap fossil fuels is only because government is footing most of the bill to keep it cheap for everyone. Nim, you nailed the gist of the story. Despite your beliefs on global warming, why not use an energy source that won’t run out until the sun goes out (at which point it won’t matter because it’s taking Earth with it)!