Carpe Diem: "Peak Solar" Hits Tennessee, Oregon

Link here.

Bottom line: solar energy comes to an end in two states as state legislatures cut subsidies. Solar was just getting too expensive.

For the longest time -- on my previous blog -- I posted the cost of solar energy; it was about 5x that of conventional energy (residential electricity: 30 cents vs 6 cents for similar unit of electricity). I finally gave up keeping track: the numbers weren't changing and one of two things was bound to happen: a) states would continue to lose money subsidizing solar energy; or, b) states would quit subsidizing solar energy.

Not once did I see the price of solar energy coming down far enough to compete with conventional sources. The economics were simply not there.

Wind energy might last a bit longer. But there is a huge difference in the economics between solar and wind energy.

This is not to say that solar energy does not have its place in the energy field. It does.