Every month I hear about some amazing technology that makes solar energy cheaper and more efficient. Yet the market for solar never budges and the only thing consumers see are temporary tax breaks that get used up in weeks. Less hype, more progress that the end user can actually get motivated for!
Well there are tax breaks on alternative uses of energy, so until the prices get down to a decent price, people can continue to take advantage of that to deafen some of the cost.
that i think will be the problem. finding entrepreneurs who have the capital to start selling these things to the public.
most people don't know where to buy solar stuff from so advertising is also a concern i think.
"Nothing ever happens."
today I can pick up a new laptop battery for 70-80 dollars, while 10 years ago i would have spent over 300 dollars on a new camera battery that wasn't even a 1/4 of the capacity.
so that clearly isn't true.
the same with solar, prices per watt are constantly dropping. its just mostly a slow and steady process, not a revolutionary one, so the differences are far less pronounced.
Local gov worked out a plan so homeowners could finance solar on their home through spreading out the cost of the project to be included with their property taxes over a 15yr span of time.. Fanny May and Freddy Mack made a rule that they wouldn't finance any property that contained an assessment on property taxes for solar electric installation. As a result the local gov cancelled the program and this made it so it was impossible for us to put on solar without coming up with about 30k up front.
Don't forget that the nuclear industry was nursed to profitability and viability by government research and subsidies for decades, as was coal and oil development. Renewable energy technologies should not be expected to make it on their own in a market dominated by behemoths that became behemoths due to decades of government assistance and billions of dollars of subsidies.
Have you even looked at what is happening to the price per watt over the past three years? It has fallen by more than a factor of two.
Have you looked at what has happened to battery capacity for cameras and laptops, not to mention the number of charge-discharge cycles they support? The improvements are dramatic. Were it not for these advances, we would not see the fast, thin, big-screen smart phones that are out there.
dodey23Jan 20, 2012Buried
Every month I hear about some amazing technology that makes solar energy cheaper and more efficient. Yet the market for solar never budges and the only thing consumers see are temporary tax breaks that get used up in weeks. Less hype, more progress that the end user can actually get motivated for!
sheopleherderJan 20, 2012Buried
Now if they would only subsidize the creation of this technology rather than invest in the current systems that aren't economically feasible...
countess666Jan 21, 2012Buried
but the (per watt) price of solar panels is in constant decline. so much in fact some manufacturers are having difficulty keeping up.
breadfredJan 20, 2012Buried
Give it time. OLED was invented years ago. Only the end of this year wlll it become available on TVs.
Things take time to develop, and even more time to be economical on scale.
Be patient.
breadfredJan 21, 2012Buried
I think the problem you describe is vanishing as the middle man is getting cut out more and more due to the Internet.
It is very common for high-end consumer devices to be expensive in the first year (early adopters) and become radically cheaper over time.
FPSmotoJan 20, 2012Buried
Well there are tax breaks on alternative uses of energy, so until the prices get down to a decent price, people can continue to take advantage of that to deafen some of the cost.
mizuhochanJan 20, 2012Buried
I'm sure I've read about 3 or 4 breakthroughs in solar power in the last year. The same can be said about Lithium Ion batteries. Nothing ever happens.
tylorlilesJan 21, 2012Buried
problem is it's like the wwII supply lines....everyone has to get a cut and the price will be inflated and passed on to us.
tylorlilesJan 21, 2012Buried
that i think will be the problem. finding entrepreneurs who have the capital to start selling these things to the public.
most people don't know where to buy solar stuff from so advertising is also a concern i think.
countess666Jan 21, 2012Buried
"Nothing ever happens."
today I can pick up a new laptop battery for 70-80 dollars, while 10 years ago i would have spent over 300 dollars on a new camera battery that wasn't even a 1/4 of the capacity.
so that clearly isn't true.
the same with solar, prices per watt are constantly dropping. its just mostly a slow and steady process, not a revolutionary one, so the differences are far less pronounced.
skyislandJan 21, 2012Buried
Well I think increasing the density of locations of spectral response in the production of electricity is exciting stuff.
sheopleherderJan 20, 2012Buried
I am pretty sure that is to be determined, economy to scale and all.
skyislandJan 21, 2012Buried
Local gov worked out a plan so homeowners could finance solar on their home through spreading out the cost of the project to be included with their property taxes over a 15yr span of time.. Fanny May and Freddy Mack made a rule that they wouldn't finance any property that contained an assessment on property taxes for solar electric installation. As a result the local gov cancelled the program and this made it so it was impossible for us to put on solar without coming up with about 30k up front.
berkanaJan 21, 2012Buried
Don't forget that the nuclear industry was nursed to profitability and viability by government research and subsidies for decades, as was coal and oil development. Renewable energy technologies should not be expected to make it on their own in a market dominated by behemoths that became behemoths due to decades of government assistance and billions of dollars of subsidies.
fluoriteJan 21, 2012Buried
Have you even looked at what is happening to the price per watt over the past three years? It has fallen by more than a factor of two.
Have you looked at what has happened to battery capacity for cameras and laptops, not to mention the number of charge-discharge cycles they support? The improvements are dramatic. Were it not for these advances, we would not see the fast, thin, big-screen smart phones that are out there.
sattireattireJan 21, 2012Buried
Now if they only have the same principles of Edison.
“I shall make electricity so cheap that only the rich can afford to burn candles” - Thomas Edison
The biggest problem with our energy advancement is cost efficiency.
dougnic55Jan 21, 2012Buried
way to go...soon it will be competitive with oil and coal...then it is all over but the hurrays...
ninhJan 21, 2012Buried
Instead they subsidize candles at the expense of electricity users with feed-in tariffs.