Solar Policy?

The US solar policy is not working.  Don't believe me look at the number of failed solar companies.  A friend forwarded me this article today along with an old quote "Money is like manure, it doesn't work unless you spread it around"  (thanks Joe Brown for that).  We have made a lot of bad investments to be sure.  There were plenty of technologies that we over invested in but the real issue is that we as a country lack any coherent energy policy.

There have been some misrepresentations of the capability of solar as a technology.  Solar is great for satisfying the peak energy demand during the day and that is where it should be used.  Most solar systems put out their peak energy between 10 am and 2pm and it rolls off pretty fast from there.  People quote that we receive 1100 W/Sq M of insolation.  That's on a nice clear day, at the right latitude, and the energy drops off pretty fast on either side of the peak.  You get the picture that under ideal conditions 1100 W reach the Earth's surface.  Now most photovoltaic systems have and efficiency of between 12% and 33% (for CPV).  There are also a fair number of days where the bright shiny thing in the sky never shows it's face.

Here's the nice thing about solar.  When it's at it's best, energy demand is typically at it's highest.  Right smack during the middle of the business day.  We should be focusing on a policy that encourages homes and businesses to install solar on roof tops and carports.  This eliminates the transport losses because the energy is consumed right where it's generated.  It also distributes the energy generation so that the local effects of clouds, fog, etc are minimized.

Here's the other little secret about solar.  There is no technology in it.  Most of the yield improvements are well understood production improvements.  We are not losing large amounts of technical know how.  Also, while the manufacture of the cells is CapEx intensive again, it is a well understood process.  Same for panel assembly.  It's soldering and mechanical assembly.  There is no technology and the product cost is dominated by cost of touch labor.  Therefore these jobs are not the high value jobs that we need to generate a strong economy.  No matter what you do in the short run these jobs will eventually migrate to low labor cost areas.  The economics and market forces will dictate this.

So where am I going with all of this?  If the administration wishes to increase high value green jobs and reduce carbon emissions which are both good things to do it needs to reverse course.  Stop the solar panel tariff policy.  It didn't save the DRAM industry in the 1980's and it won't save the solar industry today.  Instead put sensible incentives in place for businesses to install solar.  The installer jobs are high skill and better pay than the assembly jobs and you will get the benefits of maximizing clean energy generation.


http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Rest-in-Peace-The-List-of-Deceased-Solar-Companies