Some Might Say These Were Bold-Faced Lies

I happened to catch the interview with the First Solar CEO on CNBC. I began to transcribe what he was saying, but it seemed so far off base (regarding pricing) I gave up. I thought I was mishearing.

But you can hear it for yourself.

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?play=1&video=3000160743

The First Solar CEO says his solar-generated electricity "at more than 60 cents/watt" can compete without government subsidies or mandates. He also says he will get the cost down to "40 cents/watt."

Note that when the interviewer says First Solar electricity "costs" "60 cents," the CEO quickly responds by saying "more than 60 cents." At least he wanted to be clear there.

He and the interviewer used the word "watt" as in "60 cents/watt" which, of course, makes no sense. The unit of scale is KWH.  I assume that's what they meant. It was also unclear whether this was "cost" to produce, or the "price" the consumer pays.

Let's assume for the benefit of First Solar and the consumer, the 60 cents is the "price" paid by the consumer.

I was appalled when the First Solar CEO refused to answer the question how 60-cent-solar-electricity compared to "natural-gas-electricity"? He said it depends on the price of natural gas, saying that the price of natural gas varied around the world, but overseas First Solar was competitive with natural gas.

He was being very, very disingenuous. He was on CNBC, speaking English, to an American interviewer for an American audience. The interviewer was clearly asking how First Solar's 60-cent-solar-electricity compares with American "natural-gas-electricity." The First Solar CEO wouldn't answer.

The answer: American "natural-gas-electricity" costs the consumer about 10 cents compared to 60 cents for his solar-generated electricity. The spread may be significantly more if we are comparing "cost" and "price."

Be that as it may, in America it appears, solar-generated electricity would cost you six times (or more) what natural gas or coal-generated electricity would cost you.

By the way, 60 cents was incredible. When I started the blog, the "cost" was about 37 cents/KWH.

I was very, very negatively impressed by that interview. Maybe I was missing something. But I doubt it; especially when he refused to answer a very simple question. CNBC's listeners, I hope, aren't that gullible.