How Solar Energy Got So Cheap

In 1976, a watt of energy generated by solar photovoltaic cost over $100. In 2019, it was less than 50 cents per watt, a price decline of 99.6%. Even since 2009, solar has declined 90% in price. What’s behind that drop? Industry helped, but the main driver was government policy and subsidy of solar by countries like the US, Japan, Germany, and China.

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Green energy: Which sources are the most sustainable?

What energy sources are most sustainable? An Economist video.

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Solar Panels In Space

“Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was widely mocked and criticized for having suggested Jewish-run space lasers might be responsible for California’s wildfires. But it turns out the technology she flagged — orbiting panels that beam solar energy to Earth — does exist, at least in prototype form, CNN reports. Only instead of the Rothschilds, the Pentagon controls the technology, and instead of destroying California’s forests and homes, Photovoltaic Radiofrequency Antenna Modules (PRAMs) could provide emergency power during natural disasters.”

— “U.S. scientists have shown it’s plausible to power the Earth from solar panels in space,” Peter Weber, The Week

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The Texas power system failure is a warning sign

In February, an unusual winter storm left millions of Texans without electric power or water in subzero temperatures for nearly five days. Oklahoma and other neighboring states only had minor disruptions. Why? Texas is on its own electrical grid, separate from the rest of the country, unlike other states, so it can’t get power from other states in an emergency. Texas hasn’t upgraded its electrical infrastructure since its last big failure ten years ago, but most of the U.S. power infrastructure has aged beyond its “use by” date.

More:

“Texas’s power disaster is a warning sign for the US,” Madeline Marshall, Vox

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Spice Up Solar Panels With Chili Peppers

“Here’s some news hot off the press. Researchers have found a secret ingredient for making solar panels that absorb the sun’s energy more efficiently. Depending on what you like to eat, there’s a good chance you can find it at home. Capsaicin, the chemical that gives chili peppers their spicy sting, also improves perovskite solar cells – the devices that make up solar panels.

Power Struggle: Electric Utilities Fight Solar Advocates

“As solar technology gets dramatically cheaper, tens of thousands of Americans are putting photovoltaic panels up on their roofs, generating their own power. At the same time, 43 states and Washington DC have ‘net metering’ laws that allow solar-powered households to sell their excess electricity back to the grid at retail prices.

That’s a genuine problem for utilities. All these solar households are now buying less and less electricity, but the utilities still have to manage the costs of connecting them to the grid. Indeed, a new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory argues that, without policy changes, this trend could soon put utilities in dire financial straits. If rooftop solar were to grab 10 percent of the market over the next decade, utility earnings could decline as much as 41 percent.

To avoid that fate, many utilities are now pushing for reforms that would at least slow the breakneck growth of rooftop solar — say, by scaling back those ‘net metering’ laws. And that’s opened up a war with many fronts.”

— “Solar power is growing so fast that older energy companies are trying to stop it,” Brad Plumer, Vox

More:

“Solar Advocates Fight Utilities Over Grid Access,” Jeff Brady, NPR

“Taxes, fees: the worldwide battle between utilities and solar,” Tracy Rucinski and Byron Kaye, Reuters

“Old Energy’ Utilities See Rising Threat from Solar,” Taegan Goddard, Wonk Wire

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East Village Recovery Efforts Look Like This

New York’s Alphabet City, Wednesday (Photo: Sean McPhillips, Salon).

Further downtown, bucket brigades carry diesel fuel up to a 17th floor generator to keep a data center online:

“After Sandy Knocks Out Power, Rescue Keeps Data Center Alive,” Gerry Smith, Huffington Post

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Occupy Appropriate Technology. And Yachts.

Occupy Wall Street protesters in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park had their gasoline-power generators confiscated by the NYFD as potential fire hazards. How to power life’s basic necessities, computers and cell phones? Bicycle-powered generators.

Further south, 300 Florida protesters marched on the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The chief oppostiton to the good-natured and well-tanned marchers was a torrential downpour.

Related: Appropedia.org Appropriate Technology Portal

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Disposable. Sustainable. Plastic Bottles of Coke.

Q:  What’s full of empty calories, packed in disposable plastic, saves energy, helps Earth’s ecology, and improves the lives of the world’s poor?

A. Coca-Cola in 1.5 liter plastic bottles.

Terrorists Attack U.S. Power Grid

The assault is on. Raiders from the extremist Sciurus carolinensis group are attacking the vulnerable U.S. electric power infrastructure, paralyzing the nation and plunging Americans into darkness. In Virginia. In New Jersey. In Nebraska and Washington State. 

Mass evacuation in Trenton. Terror in Tennessee. Services severed in North Carolina. Arson in Idaho.

Can nothing be done? Is no one safe? When will it end?

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