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Solar Energy Is the Fastest Growing Industry In the US
Hugh Pickens writes "According to Rhone Resch, the last three years have seen the U.S. solar industry go from a start-up to a major industry that is creating well-paying jobs and growing the economy in all 50 states, employing 93,000 Americans in 2010, a number that is expected to grow between 25,000 to 50,000 this year (PDF). In the first quarter of 2011, the solar industry installed 252 megawatts of new solar electric capacity, a 66 percent growth from the same time frame in 2010. Solar energy is creating more jobs per megawatt than any other energy source (PDF) with the capability, according to one study, of generating over 4 million jobs by 2030 with aggressive energy efficiency measures. There are now almost 3,000 megawatts of solar electric energy installed in the U.S., enough to power 600,000 homes. In the manufacturing sector, solar panel production jumped 31 percent. 'The U.S. market is expected to more than double yet again in 2011, installing enough solar for more than 400,000 homes,' writes Resch. 'Last year, the industry set the ambitious yet achievable goal of installing 10 gigawatts annually by 2015 (PDF) – enough to power 2 million more homes each and every year.'"
Jobs per megawatt? What the hell kind of measure of efficiency is that?!
Jobs per megawatt
...no doubt.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
It seems to me, Higher jobs/MW = Higher cost/MW
How much of this industry growth is fueled by government subsidies?
It isn't. Biotech is.
How much government money has been spent creating these jobs? And what is the percentage of salary for solar workers compared to this government money?
The good news: Solar energy is the fastest growing industry in the US.
The bad news for solar energy: Solar energy is the fastest growing industry in the US.
The bad news for the US: Solar energy is the fastest growing industry in the US.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
How much are the subsidies in USA? Here in Italy they are around 0.42 €/kWh and are crazily high, to the point that no more subsidies are going to be given starting this year.
Or it could go the way of the railroads and the Internet, which were heavily subsidized initially so they could get started, but were self-sustaining once they reached a certain scale.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
Any industry heavy with government subsidies - defense, social welfare, medicine, and now 'renewables' - attracts opportunists of both the legitimate and illegitimate sort.
Legitimate businesses are interested because they know that having a politically-attractive industry can make a lot of low-/no-interest money available as well as making the government paperwork (permits, etc.) all move much quicker than usual. Finally, it's a truism that once established government programs almost never die (for God's sake, the TVA's REA is still alive and flourishing - conveniently renamed to the RUS "Rural Utilities Service" - to legitimize its ever-spreading 'responsibilities' hahaha).
Illegitimate business (con men, criminals, etc.) are attracted because government investment typically now means at least dollars in the 10^6 range, that until they reach 10^9 these numbers are considered 'trivial' and barely worth notice/mention by Federal agencies (how many pallets of $$billions have been untraceably 'lost' in Iraq/Afghanistan?) - a perfect environment for fraud.
-Styopa
Too bad solar manufacturing is heavily subsidized by the US government and then the purchase by the consumer is also heavily subsidized by the US government and state governments.
You can't even get a permit let a lone build a nuclear or coal power plant because of EPA regulations and red tape.
It's like watching a race between two people running and one person get's hit by a car every third step they take and acting surprised the other runner is doing so well. It's a rigged race and the desired outcome shouldn't be a huge surprise.
I'm not against solar, in fact I thought if we were going to spend that near trillion in stimulus we could have near afforded to put a solar system on every single family home in the US. Instead we wasted it on nothing... shame.
"In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash"
I just hope the North Koreans don't develop a glowing dog of their own.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
You can't even get a permit let a lone build a nuclear or coal power plant because of EPA regulations and red tape.
You're not going to hear much sympathy from me. I've been to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, I've seen what natural water should look like. By my own first hand account, there is none of that on the East Coast.
So let's see here, after some shallow checking on Google News we have: Frack water to be dumped in Niagara Falls, the EPA has been completely ignoring Anacostia River pollution and the dead zone in the Chesapeake is growing. And that's just news from the last couple of days. How can I be upset that the EPA wants to tie up companies in "red tape" when this is happening in our country? Why don't the solar companies get the same red tape? Oh, right, they don't produce a byproduct that is often dumped in nearby water. I'm sure the site of solar panel farms suffers the same environmental scrutiny that your poor "hobbled" coal and nuclear power facilities face. It's just that the byproducts and environmental effects appear to be okay for local residents.
It's like watching a race between two people running and one person get's hit by a car every third step they take and acting surprised the other runner is doing so well. It's a rigged race and the desired outcome shouldn't be a huge surprise.
The way I see it, is it's more like two people racing and one person pouring crude oil along the entire race path and then sliding on it with a sled and beating the person that's trying to run through it. Meanwhile the people who live near the race track are drinking shit in their water. Think I'm making that up? Go ask the residents of West Virginia who get to watch their entire state terraformed into slag. PA's natural gas boon could result in the same thing if we don't have that evil evil evil "red tape."
My work here is dung.
For a long time I thought a balanced approach to renewable energy was the best strategy but I've recently changed my opinion to favoring solar heavily. Specifically, solar to various hydrocarbons. Even though it's not as efficient as other solar storage techniques, such as pumping water uphill, it directly generates a portable, energy dense medium. The lecture that really changed my mind came from Cal Tech professor Dr. Nathan Lewis. He talked about limits of every energy source and broke down the numbers in terms of potential energy from each. Nothing even came close to solar. And even though solar to hydrogen is cleaner, realistically, solar to hydrocarbons are much easier to use in our current economy.
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For years governments (at least in Australia) have been saying that going green will be bad for jobs and economy, while some of us have been saying there is enormous business potential in green tech, if given the right guidance. (Although in my opinion, the best guidance is probably not subsidies.)
I reckon that the easiest way to go green is by taking advantage of capitalism, but for some reason the Liberals (blue) just don't seem to see it. It seems they're only on board now that they realise that they're losing votes because of their stance. In Australia I wish there was a cyan party (blue-green) rather than the Greens (which is really red-green).
Is it just in Australia that it's like this? How about the US and Europe? Can other governments see the business potential in "green technology" other than China?
When we built our 32-foot sailboat and embarked upon a 5-year cruise of the eastern North Pacific (read: Washington, Oregon, California, Baja and the Sea of Cortez) we bought two 33-watt solar panels in Oakland, CA and used them throughout the cruise. They worked amazingly well but we did spend a bit of time making sure they were oriented properly. We later augmented them with a wind generator (hand-carved propellor and a 35vdc motor hung in the rigging) which helped the refrigeration system make enough ice per day for two drinks each at sundown instead of just one.
We were a novelty then...
Now we're solar in our little 21-foot camp trailer and, guess what..... we're *still* a novelty. Two 40-watt panels (about half the size physically as those we bought in 1981 but roughly the same price in 2010 dollars) still give us all the power we need but we're typically the only solar-powered RV in the campground. And other campers continually ask us if they actually work.
I'm convinced that distributed solar power is the best answer to the energy problems facing the USA but I've been skeptical that we're educated enough as a culture to get there. Nice to see this piece.
It's also nice to have been a pioneer.
No one ever had to evacuate a city because the solar panels broke!
No. The panel has nothing to do with consumption. It is protective equipment. According the the gov't, the average US home uses 900kwh/month, up from 850 ten years ago, and that is roughly 30 kwh/day. A typical install is about 5-6kw, and produces about 17-25 kwh/day average over a year (ranges depend on install location). Note also that the first step in a residential solar PV install is usually efficiency, so the typical solarized house has a base load lower than 900 kwh... and this is mainly from changing out the fridge, changes to bulbs, etc. A 5kw install is typical for suburban US homes. My farm gets 85% of its load from a 3.44 kw array.
Also, I work at a pump hydro facility (Blenheim Gilboa) as an electrical engineer. We're about 93% efficient end to end. We make our money on day/night differentials. I'm working on LiIon battery systems that are 95% end to end efficient.
Finally in terms of storage your numbers should all relate to watt hours, not watts.
Wrong.
The amount of railroads around the nation was a spit in the bucket, compared to other nations. Then we VERY heavily subsidized them to get them off the ground. The feds and states gave all sorts of lands and even money to them to build on. We are not talking just ROW. They GAVE large lands to them. Many of the ranches here in the west were originally railroad owned. They then sold those to get funding for building out more of their railroads.
In fact, the US and state govs have done that with the vast majority of our industries. Power? Feds and States. Telephones? Direct subsidies, and allowed ATT to become a monopoly. Aviation? WD bought loads of these to subsidize them. Cars? States built roads to bring in cars. some states gave direct subsidies to car dealers and garages to set-up in various locations esp. in rural areas. Ships? WD/DOD bought loads of them. Hell, they produced a nuclear civilian ship and ran it for a time. Electronics? NASA and DOD have heavily subsidized our electronics (sadly, we have given up, but need to change that; in particular for moving to cell-phone communications, we absolutely should require that all parts come from western nation, ideally America ). the list goes on and on. We have subsidized many of our industries into being.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Without the federal subsidies AND the special liability protection offered to Coal, oil and gas they would fail.
If you wiped out all subsidies, Coal, Oil and Gas WOULD be cheaper slightly. Afterall, they have 125 years of infrastructure built.
People said the same thing about thoes fancy horseless carriages and the new fangled steam-ships.
Subsidies are important to give new and promising technology an opportunity in the market. Solar is still a baby. We are every year finding new and dramatic ways to improve solar. It will probably be a baby for another 20 years. Coal, Oil and gas haven't been babes for 50+ years. We have seen a small improvement in efficiency but thats it.
Once a technology is no longer in development it should be stripped of subsidies and protections and allowed to stand on its own. Coal, Oil and gas never have done this.
Solar is propped up far less than the dirty fossil fuel industry. Oil and Natural Gas alone are set to reap more than $1.25 Billion from Texas alone this year in subsides and tax breaks. At the Federal level, they've reaped more than $50 Billion since 2002. In order to level the proverbial playing field, the subsidies to Solar and other alternative energy forms are necessary. But the Oil and Gas companies are reaping billions of dollars in profits and paying less tax than the average wage earner in terms of a percentage of income.
Without subsides, our $4 gallon gas would be more like what they pay in Europe--nearly double that and would cripple or kill the auto industry. Of course it may well spur development of better and more efficient (and more profitable) forms of Public Transportation, but most of that would take a decade or more to put in place. This, too, would kill our fragile economy. Had this all been done during the Clinton Administration, when we were seeing 5% Annual Growth, then removing the subsidies for Oil and Gas would
In America today you can murder land for private profit. You can leave the corpse for all to see, and nobody calls the c
Don't we want less jobs per energy?
I can beat Solar easily, and solve both the energy crisis as well as the US unemployment problem.
Step 1: Figure out how many unemployed people there are in the US!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_unemployment_rate
9.2 Hooray!
Step 2: Figure out how many Americans there are!
Google!
307 Million
Step 3: Do some complicated math!
1st assume a population of 300 and an unemployment rate of 10%!
30 Million people!
Step 4: Buy 30 Million exercise bikes and hook them up with dynamos and connect them to the grid!
You might possibly need an inverter or something fancy.
Step 5: Hire 10 Million people at minimum wage for each of 3 shifts.
Step 6: PROFIT!!! :)
Now you have all the power you need, no unemployment, and as a bonus I solved all your obesity problems you have in the US as well!
I'll take my Nobel peace prize!
You're on your own with that whole debt thing though, I'm not touching that one!