Solar Power – Will the time come soon when no subsidies are needed?

The good news is that that time when subsidies are not needed for solar power is coming and may be here very soon.

One problem with renewable power, such as solar PV (sun to electricity) and wind is the cost. Presently, to be competitive with fossil fuels renewable power must be subsidized. Subsidies include tax breaks and the renewable energy requirements that require that utilities buy a certain amount of renewable energy, even if they have to pay more than their selling price for the power.

ConserveNC certainly supports these subsidies. Oil, coal, and nuclear power have been subsidized, and a subsidy is necessary to “kick start” new technology. But eventually, any technology will have to stand on its own without subsidies.

The cost of solar power is dropping fast. At the same time, the cost of coal and other fossil fuels is increasing. A recent story in the Raleigh News & Observer had some interesting data. The story was about Strata Solar, a company in Chapel Hill that is building large, industrial scale, solar farms.

According to Marks Wilhelm of Strata Solar, the installed cost of solar panels as fallen from $9/watt a few years ago to $3/watt this year and in several years will fall to $1/watt. It was not reported if that included other equipment, such as an inverter and equipment to connect to the power grid. However, that is a very big decrease. If that trend continues for only a few more years solar will be directly competitive with coal even without subsidy.

According to the N&O article, Strata Solar is the dominate developer of large solar power installations in North Carolina, with 15 industrial scale solar farms planned for completion this year. They are currently building an installation in Chatham County that, at 1 MW, will be one of their smaller installations. They are currently negotiating for a 20MW project.

Solar power, of course, works only when the sun shines. In North Carolina, that is the equivalent of about 4 hours a day of full sunlight. So a 100 watt panel will produce about 4 watt hours per day, or about 1,460 watt hours per year. Because solar produces power part time, there must be other plants, typically gas or coal fired, to produce power when the sun isn’t shining. For that reason, the cost of solar power has to be compared to the cost of fuel for a conventional power plant.

However, any time the sun is shining and a solar panel is producing power, less coal and gas is being burned. So solar power, even though it works only during the day, will reduce the amount of CO2 and pollution being produced. 

League of Conservation Voters Releases Congressional Scorecard

The League of Conservation Voters (the national organization) released its scorecard of US Senate and House of Representatives members. North Carolina members scored from a high of 100% (Sen. Kagen) to a low of 3% ( Rep. Foxx).

Legislative Environmental Stars Lost

Even before the primary elections, we know that at least four of the leading environment voices in the Triangle will not be returning for the 2012 session. This is due to retirements and placement of two of our environmental friends in the same district.

Action: Call Sen. Burr about bike/walking support

This action alert is from Steven Waters of Raleigh. Please help by calling Sen. Burr's office. You may talk to a person or voice mail, but leave a message. It is important for Sen. Burr to know that is constituents support the Cardin-Cochran amendment. His staff will be counting phone calls and he will know how many people called in. Calls do make a difference. It only takes a couple of minutes to make the call. Details are below:

Environment NC releases General Assembly scorecard

Shortly after the NC League of Conservation Voters released its scorecard of the voting records of NC House and Senate members (click here), the environmental organization Environment NC released its scorecard. The following is a press release from Environment NC:

EPA site provides green house gas data for US, NC

The Environmental Protection Agency provides detailed data on sites that release green house gases (GHG), available for the entire US and for individual states, found at: http://epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ghgdata/

State Releases Environmental Report

The NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) recently released a report “Sate of the Environment” about how the state is protecting its water, air, and land. According to the report, the air is cleaner and we are putting less raw sewage into our waters. However, the report points out that population growth is causing other pollution problems and straining drinking water supplies.

Keystone XL pipeline permit denied

 State Department News Release:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/01/181473.htm
Washington, DC
January 18, 2012
Today, the Department of State recommended to President Obama that the presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline be denied and, that at this time, the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline be determined not to serve the national interest. The President concurred with the Department’s recommendation, which was predicated on the fact that the Department does not have sufficient time to obtain the information necessary to assess whether the project, in its current state, is in the national interest.

Agreement Cuts Pollution by Retiring Dirty, Old Coal Plants in Carolinas

The Southern Environmental Law Center released the following press release today:

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Conservation groups today announced a settlement with Duke Energy that will cut pollution by phasing out over 1600 mega watts of dirty, old coal-fired power while still meeting customers’ energy needs.

NC League of Conservation Voters Legislator Rankings

The NC League of Conservation Voters has released their rankings of state legislators, which can be found here.

EPA announced new mercury rules

Last month the EPA announced new rules for release of mercury and other pollutants from power plants. This will affect many power plants that presently exceed the new limits. The power companies that operate these plants will have to either install equipment to scrub the pollutants from the plants or shut down the plants. Many are expected to be shut down. Many coal burning power plants had already been shut down.

EPRI Electric Vehicle Report

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) released a report on the technology and status of electric vehicles and the effect that use of electric vehicles will have on the environment and the electrical grid. This report is available free from EPRI. Click here.