Today is the day for Solar

Let’s talk Seriously now. North Carolina has a standard, a mandate and while some of it has been challenging to implement, solar is on time and under price on all original estimates, period!

We have invested 150yrs worth of infrastructure and private and government support around fossil fuel. Fossil fuel was all worthwhile but to say solar can’t compete is not telling the whole story.
SC Senator Glenn Reese who taught physics for 15yrs recently captured it best when he said “..the good Lord may be laughing at us, he gave us an infinite energy source right there in the sky..”

Today’s solar is 300% more efficient than 1958’s solar. I’d like to hear from leaders how we plan to transition away from finite fuel sources. Tomorrow’s solar is closer than we think.
Today we can feasibly put 20% generation from wind and solar and NOT require more base-load capacity.
Today we can put people back to work.
Today solar could easily grow by 35% a year with incentives and renewable energy goals in place from the legislature.
Today our utilities are making strides to do renewable energy and clean power production. SCE&G, Duke and Progress all have programs in place that are leaps and bounds from where they were 3 years ago. The Co-ops are leading the nation in an efficiency program they just need to initiate it. As leaders in business in the state and the region they have some of the brightest minds in the nation working for them. Ironically a few people still say they don’t see any customer benefit with renewables. NC has implemented 20MW of solar (and counting) for, at most, 83c a month per customer. 1000’s of people work in renewable energy in NC. New Coal costs $2.50 per month to build and fuel costs are subject to rise ad infinitum. Nuclear can meet our base load demand and we can build out renewable sources as they become more and more competitive. As business people and South Carolinians we ask the leaders of SC to figure out how can we create a renewable industry that protects rate payers, rewards utilities for a job well done and employs 100’s or 1000’s of South Carolinians so that they are paying into the state we live in. Incentives in 2011 and Goals for Renewable Energy before 2012 is the economic development we need. We are surrounded by states that have already improved their economies this way. Today is the day for solar.