Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

How Not to Save the Planet

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by

James A. Bacon
in ,

solar_panel

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who want to make the world a better place by contributing their own time, energy and money to worthy causes and those who want to make the world a better place by using other peoples’ money — usually through the coercive power of government.

Solar energy is one of those things that people love to love in the abstract. A few people live up to their ideals and put their money where their mouth is. Blogger and open government advocate Waldo Jaquith (to name the only person I can think of off-hand who has done so) invested his own money to equip his house with solar energy panels. My friend Steve Nash, author of Virginia Climate Fever, uses solar power for his back-yard pool. Then there are the anonymous benefactors of the Voluntary Solar Resource Development Fund who have contributed to a revolving loan fund administered by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) to help fund low-cost solar installations.

The General Assembly created the fund in 2011. There is a dedicated DMME website, Dominion and Appalachian Power have websites, the program is listed in the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency, and there were numerous newspaper articles about the program when it was enacted. Four years have passed.

As of May 31, 2015, contributions have totaled $344.27, according to an annual report submitted by DMME.

The average cost of a residential solar installation runs about $37,000.

The program is set to expire in 2016. Absent a dramatic surge in contributions — a minimum of $500,000 to $2 million is needed to sustain the program — it will fail to make a single loan.

Why aren’t the fans of solar power publicizing this fund? Why aren’t they ginning up support? Why aren’t they creating waves of publicity through social media? Don’t they want to save the planet? Or do they want someone else to pay for saving the planet?

(Hat tip: Tim Wise)

— JAB

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  1. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    For the record, arch-reactionary conservative that I am, I installed a solar hot water heater in a house I built outside of Charlottesville back in 1985 or thereabouts.

  2. Reed Fawell 3rd Avatar
    Reed Fawell 3rd

    Back around the year 2000, I was hired to do an in depth study of renewable power’s interaction with nuclear power. My partner in preparing this study was a highly respected professional environmentalist.

    Learning about renewable power for the first time in depth, I was surprised and dismayed to learn that after more that three decades of massive public expenditure and subsidies ( tax credits, public mandates, and the like), the combination of wind, solar and biomass still generated only 3% of the electric power in this country, as of 2000. What a waste? Especially when one considers the alternative uses of these funds in making legitimate sources of power far safer, cleaner, more efficient and cheaper.

    Fortunately, there might now possible be some small light at the end of the tunnel for solar power given recent technological advances in long term storage of power for future use. We’ll see.

    Meanwhile, the market distortions of Biomass typically do far more harm than good, including starving whole populations of indigent peoples. And Wind remains hopelessly inefficiently while its environment damage is stupendous.

    I am always amazed at how self appointed “environmentalists” can justify to themselves the view shed destruction of skyline ridge tops cluttered by mile upon mile of noisy bird slaughtering towers while at the same time they oppose underground pipelines that carry critically needed energy that greatly benefits us all, and that today supplies the power that’s critical to our civilization.

    1. Cville Resident Avatar
      Cville Resident

      Reed, I agree. A lot of the effort/expenditure were very wasteful on “alternative” energy in the past.

      But….and it’s still a but….the battery/storage advances may be a turning point for solar. We’ll see.

      1. Reed Fawell 3rd Avatar
        Reed Fawell 3rd

        Yes, and lets hope that at long last it really works, instead of our pretending that it does.

  3. TooManyTaxes Avatar
    TooManyTaxes

    VDOT is looking into the installation of solar power panels on owned RoW for its own use.

  4. Jim Loving Avatar
    Jim Loving

    The government has always subsidized/promoted energy for the functioning of a modern economy. It still does so for carbon based energy. The question is which energy and at what cost (counted and uncounted costs) does society (including the regulated market) provide for the economic activity it promotes. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/04/oil-subsidies-energy-timeline

  5. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    well , here’s the facts on bird “slaughtering”:

    http://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/

    turbines aren’t even a blip on the radar compared to cats and cars…and windows and I don’t see us outlawing any of them …

    however, I do agree about the pipeline vs other… in term of visual and I agree about the current financials of solar but also Nukes are heavily subsidized also and when you think about it – coal is too.. give it’s environmental damage not only emissions – but ash ponds, etc.

    there are thousands of islands on this planet and most of them have to import fossil fuels to produce diesel power at about .50 a kilowatt hour.

    That more or less proves the point that Bacon and Reed are asserting – I admit it. But also how come there are no nukes on islands either? So neither of them can beat 50 cents kWH?

    My bet is solar and wind – wins – for the islands – and they are motivated to optimize the technology.

    If they come up with safer and smaller nukes – we might have a closer race.

    I’m still puzzled why we’re okay with the govt doing R&D for nukes and GPS, NOAA satellites , clean coal but not solar.

  6. JohnS Avatar
    JohnS

    Forget Joe Homeowner for a second. Energy analysts seem to think that the U.S. solar industry is set to launch in the next decade, mostly in the form utility-scale installations. The economics of solar have been steadily improving along with better storage/battery technologies.

    I’d be buying solar right now and selling on nuclear and coal.

    1. Cville Resident Avatar
      Cville Resident

      Oddly enough, this was on the news this afternoon:

      http://www.nbc29.com/story/29376301/solarize-charlottesville-2015-kicks-off-on-june-22nd

      1. larryg Avatar
        larryg

        well.. I’m not very impressed with the DIMM report.. after reading it to be honest.

      2. larryg Avatar
        larryg

        CR – LEAP is said to be a non-profit that provides services . .. and seems to be a Cville critter.

        can you provide any more info of who these folks are and how they pay the bills?

        thanks

  7. James A. Bacon Avatar
    James A. Bacon

    The economics of solar are rapidly improving. Clearly, our electric system needs to prepare for the new energy future. But there are a lot of complicated issues associated with the transition. I’m still trying to get a handle on them.

  8. larryg Avatar
    larryg

    re: ” The average cost of a residential solar installation runs about $37,000.”

    how much power does that generate?

    that sounds high… is there a cite?

    1. James A. Bacon Avatar
      James A. Bacon

      I just cited the DMME report. I don’t know where DMME got the figure.

  9. Dave Schutz Avatar
    Dave Schutz

    “Don’t they want to save the planet? Or do they want someone else to pay for saving the planet?” The phrase which comes to mind, here, is “Let’s you and him fight, I’ll hold your coat!”

    $37000 is about what ours cost. I think it’s sort of a hobby expenditure, won’t pay for itself for years-and-years. I don’t think we would have done it except that we were redoing the house wiring in general. It included a battery bank in the basement which will get us through most blackouts up to a couple of days running computer, phone, fridge, and some lights. I think we got back about a fifth in government incentives. On sunny spring and fall days we sell some power back to Dominion, and in mid summer it cuts Dominion’s need to provide electricity to our house on hot days. I expect it may go mainstream when panels drop in price more, and when batteries do, too.

    1. Reed Fawell 3rd Avatar
      Reed Fawell 3rd

      Good perspective. Based on real experience, a rare commodity these days. Thanks, Dave.

  10. DonR Avatar
    DonR

    The problem is that the gain of cheap dirty power is primarily enjoyed by the urban and suburban elite while the pain of cheap dirty power is borne largely by rural working class and poor people.

    There is no mountaintop removal in Henrico County.

  11. John B Avatar
    John B

    It’s probably getting close to making economic sense. At 4% that $37k throws off about $1500. Our all-electric (including heating) 4-bedroom 3-bath house costs about 2500/year from VEPCO. You can add in the reliability factor vs. generator also. We have no access to gas so our generator must be gas or propane. Today without A/C would be pretty bad…

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