Solar Can NOT Stand On It's Own

If it worked so well, it would.

Hey folks,

Happy Tuesday to ya. I know, I know, you are use to stories like these. The Headline indicates how GREAT Solar is. But then you actually READ the Article and you find that this is NOT really the case. According to Philly.com - Pennsylvania's solar-energy industry suffering from success By Andrew Maykuth Inquirer Staff Writer

The Pennsylvania solar-energy industry is collapsing under the weight of its own good fortune.

But IS it? Seriously? What "good fortune" is it that they are discussing? It is that EVERYONE wants it. It works so well it's about to put Oil and Natural Gas out of business? How well IS it working?

OR? It the "good fortune" Government Mandates, and YOUR Tax Money propping them up?

Spurred by hundreds of millions of dollars in federal and state incentives, solar developers have built so many projects in recent years that they have created an oversupply of solar-energy credits, the market instruments that provide the developers with a critical income stream.

Which MEANS, that without YOUR tax money, they will go bust. YOU are their "critical income stream." NOT what they are actually producing. NOT the Energy that they produce to supply the demand. NOT that they are saving the planet. Oh, more on Saving the Planet and Global Warming Tomorrow. But NO. Not the FREE MARKET. Government.

The price of solar credits in the state has plummeted as much as 75 percent in the last year, dramatically shrinking the income-producing potential of new and existing solar projects.

OK. I knew I would not get through this without stopping every five seconds to comment. Folks, YOU go out and create a NEW Paint. OCAN. OCAN stands for One Coat All Needed. You go out to the market and you convince people that if they buy this paint from you, they will never again have to paint, whatever it is they paint. Be it a house, or a Car. A Deck, or a Toy. OCAN is also "Environmentally Safe." One Coat. Less Garbage. Yeah it coasts a bit more, but you will never again have to worry about whatever it is you are painting. Do it ONCE, never again.

So? Some people buy it. If it works, they tell others. Others buy it. Companies buy it. It takes off. YOU get Rich. Thompson and Thompson come along and offers to buy the rights. Other, older and out dated Paints become a thing of the past. Other VERSIONS of OCAN hit the Market. Before you know it. Standard Paints are history. Stories that Dads tell their Sons. "You know Son, when I was growing up, there was no OCAN. You had to Paint two of three Coats, Every other year or so." Son to Dad. "Dad, come on." THAT is the Free Market. Not Government Mandating then PAYING you for it, if it works or not.

"We're in some ways a victim of our own success," said Maureen Mulligan, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Solar Energy Industries Association, which is predicting a crash.

"Anybody who's talking about putting up a new project now is thinking, 'Wow, there's no support anymore,' " said State Rep. Chris Ross (R., Chester County).

The SUPPORT should come from those receiving the product. It WOULD if it was actually WORKING. The DEMAND would be there and people would be WILLING to pay a little more.

On Tuesday, Ross plans to introduce a legislative rescue for the industry that would increase the amount of solar energy that utilities must buy through 2015, propping up the price of solar credits.

Artificially increasing the Price. Is that NOT what we are told Oil Speculators do?

The bill also would close Pennsylvania's solar markets to out-of-state producers. Developers here say cross-border imports of solar power are driving down prices in Pennsylvania.

"Everybody who knew anything about the market knew this was going to happen," said John F. Curtis III, chief executive of Green Energy Capital Partners L.L.C., a Whitemarsh developer. "Now, there's a big panic to do something about it."

Of course, there is a Devil to overcome. No not convincing YOU to take more of YOUR Money. No. Not that it is NOT working well enough to stand on it's own. No. No. No. It's Big Oil.

The legislative rescue is likely to encounter resistance from traditional utilities and competing fossil-fuel power suppliers, which argue that renewable-energy mandates drive up consumer costs.

Uh they DO. Then YOU pay more in Taxes to MAKE the Mandates happen. So YEAH. Twice.

"The reality is, this is kind of what happens when you flood the market with solar," said Eugene Barr, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry.

Although they can legally recover the cost of renewable power by passing it on to customers, the utilities say they are worried that higher costs will tap out consumers and deprive the utilities of funding for improvements to the distribution system.

"Didn't the developers of these solar projects make a business decision and take a risk when they decided to build these projects?" asked Terrence J. Fitzpatrick, head of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania. "At what point do you just let market forces deal with it?"

There is NO Risk involved when it comes to Liberal Ideas, and Government Programs. They just throw more money at it. It's not their money, so they do not care. They lost NOTHING. YOU pay the price.

The solar lobby, which failed for two years to persuade the legislature to increase the mandate for photovoltaic solar systems, characterized the Ross bill as a scaled-back effort to save a nascent green industry.

"People will lose jobs, and the market will stall," said Mulligan. Some solar-installation businesses will not survive, she added.

Prove it. How many Jobs? Where? How many Jobs have we lost during Obama Moratorium, and De facto Moratorium on Drilling? How many Jobs will we GAIN if he was, which he wasn't, but if he WAS Serious about INCREASING our Domestic Oil Exploration, Drilling, and Usage. We KNOW those numbers. This next Paragraph says it all. It tells you all you need to know about this.

Solar power is dependent on subsidies to compete in electrical markets, where prices have been depressed since 2008 by a combination of the economic slowdown and low natural gas prices.

It goes on to talk about how Pennsylvania and several other States have MANDATED Solar Usage and the fact that it is not really working. It wraps things up with this.

Curtis said his firm may cancel four planned utility-scale solar farms.

"We're seriously considering moving operations to California because they have a more generous program," he said.

We can get more free money in Cal. So California, here we come. Do not be mislead folks. There is no new Permits, Leases, or an increase in Domestic Exploration or Drilling. Obama doesn't mean anything he just said last week. It's getting into the 2012 Election Cycle and he wants to be re-elected. We already know that $4.00 a gallon is the tipping point in this country. People are Hurting, and they are getting angry. The answer is right here in front of us. Or under us, if you will. It is NOT Government Mandates and Tax Payer subsidies on things that show little consistent promise. Yes, it really IS, just that simple.
Peter

Sources:
Philly.com - Pennsylvania's solar-energy industry suffering from success