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The Future Is In Solar Power

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Boom_70, Sep 23, 2011.

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  1. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    Bad idea:

     
    YankeeFan, Sep 23, 2011
    #97
  2. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Organizers of charity runs say the same about 3.106856-milers.
     
    Inky_Wretch, Sep 23, 2011
    #98
  3. BB Bobcat

    BB Bobcat Active Member

    I have solar panels. They are awesome. Saves us about $1.5K a year on electricity.

    We lease em. Never paid a dime up front. Just like paying for any other utility, except what we pay the solar company is less than we were paying the electric company (PG&E). Plus, we have a contract that guarantees what our lease will be for 15 years. I have no idea what PG&E will do with their rates. They've already gone up since we got em.

    The down side, you think, is that we will never own them, but I think it's unrealistic to think you would have free power for life if you bought them. Guess what? They're gonna get old and break and the technology will improve and you'll end up buying new ones eventually.

    Other thing is the solar company gets some sort of tax break since they own them and it's contingent on how efficiently they work, which means they monitor them and would come fix them if anything went wrong.

    All in all, it's a sweet deal.

    I live in California, by the way.
     
    BB Bobcat, Sep 24, 2011
    #99
  4. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Star Wars was a unifying vision? Did you live in the same 80s I did? Reagan was mocked like hell for it and rightfully so.
     
    Bubbler, Sep 24, 2011
    #100
  5. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    Fascinating. I need to check into that.
     
    Bubbler, Sep 24, 2011
    #101
  6. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    If this is a true window into how Obama does business it's not a pretty picture.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/08/us/politics/e-mail-shows-senior-energy-official-pushed-solyndra-loan.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
     
    Boom_70, Oct 7, 2011
    #102
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Fair or unfair, we're going to be hearing a lot more about Solyndra for the next 13 months...
     
    Mizzougrad96, Oct 7, 2011
    #103
  8. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    Another solar company files for bankruptcy.

    http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/solar-company-bankrupt-despite-win-win-doe-loan/459621

    2 billion dollar loan from the federal govt.
     
    Boom_70, Apr 3, 2012
    #104
  9. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    Thank China for dumping cheaper solar panels on the market.
     
    Stitch, Apr 3, 2012
    #105
  10. Azrael

    Azrael Well-Known Member

    German solar sector in trouble, as well.


    www.thelocal.de/money/20120402-41715.html
     
    Azrael, Apr 3, 2012
    #106
  11. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    They didn't get a penny from the Federal government.

    The Blythe Project broke ground in June. In August, they put the project on hold for a switch from solar thermal troughs to photovoltaic panels. The change meant that they lost their Federal loan guarantee.

    It's more complicated than that story makes it seem, too. Solar Trust was the child of a German company that filed for bankruptcy a few months ago. In the mean time, they were selling Solar Trust to ANOTHER German company that just filed for bankruptcy. What's left of the company in America just filed for bankruptcy in Delaware. It has debts of $100 million, assets of $10 million.

    The takeaway on this one isn't government waste -- no Federal money ever reached these guys as near as I can tell. But with all those solar companies going bankrupt, it does give a picture about the viability of solar-powered energy.
     
    The Big Ragu, Apr 3, 2012
    #107
  12. Zeke12

    Zeke12 Guest

    This thread was a fun read as I pondered how this story has really come to define this election, just as so many posters here predicted.
     
    Zeke12, Apr 3, 2012
    #108
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