Obama’s contradictory statements regarding his State of the Union Address-Clean Energy

Two statements during President Obama State of the Union 2012 address stood out with regards to his renewable energy use policy. At first glance, Obama’s statements could be seen to contradict each other with regards to helping the end consumer and even enabling the solar industry to mature and become less reliant on government subsidies.

Firstly, we all applaud President Obama’s commitment to, “Not walk away from the promise of clean energy…….. “. While laying out few detailed plans, President Obama proposed several avenues to support renewable energy solutions. In his speech he called for new clean energy tax credits, as well as an end to oil subsidies.

Which begs the question, why then did Washington let the Federal ITC 1603 Grant sunset then? The tax grant vs. credit has had a major impact on commercial solar installation projects either being cancelled or pushed out. The Congress on both sides of the isle has perfected the art of “double accounting”. Would it have been that difficult to extend the tax credit into a grant for another year if they really wanted to? The ITC Credit is written into Federal law till 2016, i.e. it has already been accounted for.

As a solar integrator, I believe we don’t need new or more solar subsidies. What we need is a more stream lined permitting and engineering process. Compare the city of South Pasadena to Santa Ana in California. South Pasadena took 1 hour to obtain a commercial solar permit, while Santa Ana took over a month and several thousand dollars to obtain a commercial permit.

The second statement which will be received with mixed emotion in the solar industry was, “I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany because we refuse to make the same commitment here……….”

On the surface this seems like a fair or even a common sense statement. However, ask any solar integrator in the US for his comments on customer service from US solar manufactures vs. China? 18 Months ago ask the same group just how difficult it was to place an order with a US manufacturer if they were a small “mom and pop” installer?

These issues have nothing to do with government subsidies, rather mind set and attitude with US manufacturers. Taking that history into account, we might not simply want to step in and protect the likes of SolarWorld too quickly. Additionally, whatever side of the agreement you fall on, it must be remembered the Chinese manufactures have played a large part in driving down the costs of solar panels over the last 18 months.

The result being a more affordable product for everyone! Good for the environment? Good for Main Street? Good for small business? So which therefore is better for America? Protecting higher priced US manufactures or seeing more affordable clean energy?

Image by Getty Imagaes

Considering Solar for Home?

Have you been thinking about installing a PV solar power system for your house? We don't blame you. Right now is a GREAT time to finally make the switch!

The solar industry has been growing at a huge rate in the last five years as more and more people jump on board with the green energy movement. In southern California this is especially true. Solar installations in Los Angeles just make sense economically. The city averages 329 days a year of sunlight and that translates into a LOT of possible electricity to be generated.

With solar for home, the savings on your monthly payment are often more than what the cost of your bill is. That means, essentially, you're only paying the upfront installation fees! If you take into account the amazing rebates and incentives that are offered through the government, you can see that the savings really add up.

Another thing to consider when thinking about switching to solar power in Los Angeles, is the increased value you'll get on your house. A green energy system can be very appealing for new home buyers and as a result, the asking price on your property will go up thousands of dollars.

Can Solar Power Ever Replace Fossil Fuels?

There's definitely been a substantial growth in the Photovoltaic Solar Power industry in the last decade, but many so called 'experts' question whether or not electricity generated strictly from the sun will ever be able to replace fossils fuels as our chief source of energy.

There's no doubt that revamping our entire electrical infrastructure would require a MAJOR overhaul that might last decades. The national grid is complex, and switching energy sources completely would bring up many issues that would need to be solved.

One such issue is space. At the current efficiency level of your average solar panels in Southern California, for instance, some studies show that we'd need to have a surface area of about the size of Austria collecting all of that sunlight or approximately 165×165 miles to power the US! Of course, these panels would be spread across the entire nation and not focused in one place, but it's still a lot of space to consider.

Another issue would be cost. If we take the above example of the pv solar power needs of the US, the price of implementing such an infrastructure could be as much as 32% of the GDP of the world, or close to $17,500 billion. That's a pretty large undertaking. What you have to remember though, is that this cost will pay for itself eventually in the form of monthly utility bills!

Moore's Law in the Solar Industry?

For those of you who may be less computer savvy than others, 'Moore's Law' relates to a long term trend in computing hardware; the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit (for roughly the same cost) doubles every two years. While this phenomenon was first predicted in the 1970s, it still holds water some 40 years later. If you think about it, technology keeps getting smaller and more powerful year after year- your cell phone now has more computing power than most 'super computers' decades ago!

This is all well and good for computer nerds, you might think, but what's it got to do with solar panels or solar power in Los Angeles in general? The answer is A LOT.

Like you cost-conscious green energy system owners already know, now is a great time to switch to solar. In the last year alone solar panels have gotten cheaper by nearly 40%, due in part to heavy subsidization from China that's forcing heated competition.

Commercial solar installations are getting cheaper as well, as companies all over the US are figuring out business models that allow them set up systems more cost efficiently. In fact, the United States has seen a 17% drop in installation costs across the board.

Another point to note is that in the last five years, the industry has grown 65%. With the demand up and the solar market showing record gains it only makes sense that if companies can sustain this type of exponential growth then Moore's Law might actually kick in- allowing for an exponential increase in panel efficiency as well!