The Fate of Solar Power

Over the past few weeks I have been repeatedly asked about the fate of our Solar industry in light of the announced bankruptcy of the solar company - Solyndra. For those who haven’t heard – Solyndra was a promising start up in N. Cal that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the US Federal government through the Dept. of Energy. The assumption that this recent news could possibly reflect the instability of the Solar industry is misleading. The reality is that whatever reasons the company and government provide may actually be an attempt to shift focus from another possible root cause. One possible root cause is that Solyndra’s business model was flawed and the technological challenges insurmountable. Perhaps both the company and the DOE were aware of this and had high hopes that a big cash infusion and positive PR would be enough for the company and technology to somehow come up with a miraculous breakthrough. The real story has less to do with the solar industry than it does with the inability of our government to make wise, well informed decisions for its stakeholders. The solar industry is doing very well and especially in the US where it grew by 82% in 2010 and is on track to repeat that growth again this year.

XeroSolar is pleased to announce that we have been selected to provide a renewable energy solar system for the new Science Center Building at American Marty’s School in Manhattan Beach, CA. The new system will be integrated into the building’s roof and will provide all of the electrical needs required for the new addition and generate excess power that will help to offset some of the electrical loads for the existing school buildings. XeroSolar will design, engineer, procure, install and commission the system in time for the new building’s opening scheduled for early 2012.