Thursday, November 29, 2012

Solar Coaster Rolls

I have fallen prey to couching my talk on solar with defenses for why Solyndra failed,  why coal is cheaper,etc etc.

Fact is in six years this industry has slashed prices, increased output, refined technology, chosen winners and losers, gotten closer to parity in under a decade and likely will gut the number of manufacturers in China from over 200 to less than 50.  All this while we have no national policy, a slow-growing economy and political detractors from every corner.

Solar has been a massive success!

Anyone who remembers $12w installed knows Solar has made it over the hump.  Not only that  but we need to stop defending base load capacity.  If the coal trucks stopped rolling 29billion short tons a year then coal has no storage capacity.  100yrs of infrastructure and no wonder we are reliant on 50% of our energy from digging up dirt to burn.  How big a hole are we willing to dig waiting for 21st century energy solutions?

Our transportation and Energy sector equate to $17trillion of investment.  We can continue to do more of the same or we can accept that change is inevitable, needed and exciting and start the build out of a new energy grid.

I don't know about the rest of the nation or the world but in South Carolina we need to bring the country kicking and screaming into the 21st century.  For years I have heard nothing but negativity and stalling and it has worked.  No more, any time I hear anything negative on Solar I am calling them out loud and clear.  Its time for facts and the fact is one day directly mined solar energy will power the world because today solar already powers the world.  In the last several weeks I have seen or heard about some absolutely amazing things taking place in the automotive and energy sector.  it is exciting, real and coming before I (hopefully) kick this mortal coil.  I personally discovered today that something I thought impossible is not only being done but on large commercial scale.  You can be sure I will do everything I can to introduce this 'new' technology to every sector where it fits and it is a doozy.  The solar coaster continues to roll, everytime I hear a new hurdle to jump, I know its coming and solar will clear the hurdle and make those obstacle pushers wish they had been 'on' the ride sooner rather than later.