Welcome to Solar Shame
Using solar energy to produce electricity on a large scale is a fad. It's not practical. The numbers don't add up. It's a complete waste of money.
What I have to say here is not new. It is common knowledge that large scale solar is useless. See a list of articles that say just that here. The many critiques, from people ranging from experts to outraged citizens, are invisible to those that create government policy.
The Stateline photovoltaic solar plant is near Primm, Nevada.
The most influential promoters of solar are extremist environmental organizations. The leader of the pack is surely the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club make wild claims that have no relation to reality. For example, it claims that solar electricity is competitive with fossil fuel electricity. In reality solar electricity costs about seven times more than natural gas or coal electricity. Only an 85% subsidy makes it competitive.
The Sierra Club's energy plan is a radical fantasy. It wants to ban fossil fuels and run the country 100 percent on renewable energy — mainly on wind and solar. That is not remotely feasible.
The Ivanpah thermal solar plant near Primm, Nevada, uses thousands of computer controlled mirrors to focus sunlight on towers to generate steam to power turbine-generators.
Solar energy is a fraud. Its fraudulent nature is obvious to any engineering expert. But too many experts are on the solar payroll, or afraid to be openly critical. For utility companies solar is a bonanza. Meeting solar mandates requires vast investment in solar farms, power lines and related infrastructure. Solar cannot replace the traditional electric grid because solar is intermittent energy. The traditional grid must be fully maintained and expanded to back up solar. Vast investment in solar infrastructure brings vast profits to the regulated utilities.
Consider these quotes from prominent experts (ChatGPT):
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James Hansen, Climate Scientist: "The government is spending billions of dollars on subsidies for renewable energy technologies like wind and solar, but these technologies are not sufficient to power a modern industrial society. They are intermittent and dilute, and they require backup from fossil fuels or expensive storage systems."
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Robert Bryce, Author and Energy Expert: "Solar energy is not economically viable on a large scale without massive subsidies. The costs of solar power, when you include storage and grid reliability, are still far too high compared to other forms of energy. Solar power alone cannot provide the baseload electricity needed for a modern economy."
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Vaclav Smil, Energy Analyst: "The cost of replacing our fossil fuel-based infrastructure with solar and wind power is astronomically high. Solar panels and wind turbines require rare metals, massive amounts of land, and substantial investment in storage and grid upgrades. These economic costs are often glossed over by proponents of renewables."
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Bjorn Lomborg, Economist and Environmental Skeptic: "While solar power is touted as a solution to climate change, its economic impact is often underestimated. It requires significant government subsidies and increases energy costs for consumers. The focus on solar power diverts attention from more cost-effective solutions that could provide more immediate benefits."
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Michael Shellenberger, Environmental Policy Writer: "The economics of solar energy are fundamentally flawed. Despite decades of development, solar power still requires massive taxpayer subsidies to compete with fossil fuels. It drives up electricity prices, harms the poor, and destabilizes the grid."
A list of 50 prominent individuals critical of renewable energy, including solar, is here.
Articles About Solar Energy
The Cost of Solar Electricity - A 4000-word analysis of the cost of solar electricity that shows the cost without subsidies to be about $150 per megawatt hour.
Solar Delusions - A short article making the case against solar electricity.
Solar Gold - How the Nevada electric utility owned by Warren Buffet's company makes great profits driven by the adoption of solar energy.
Renewable and Clean - Renewable energy and clean energy are propaganda terms with flexible definitions.
Residential Rooftop Solar - An insidious scheme to make electricity customers think that solar is a source of cheap electricity. It is cheap because all the other customers are subsidizing the electricity