Re:The price of solar power just fell 50% in 16 months
by criddell on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @04:10PM
(#11623804)
I'm not sure that the net metering argument applies to places like central Texas. People consume the most power when the sun is shining so solar, even without net metering, makes sense. Of course other regions are different.
> Utility scale solar seems to be the best solution
I don't think it makes sense to talk about a best solution. Large scale solar will contribute along with nuclear, coal, natural gas, wind, etc...
Other solar subsidies may remain a bit longer. But net-metering is probably the biggest once.
> I'm not sure what you mean by 100% of the costs will be covered. All I know is that I can reduce the amount of electricity that I buy during the day when I consume the most. The savings are greater than the cost so it's pretty much a no-brainer for me at this point. If I finance, I can pretty pay for the system with the money that I'm no longer using to buy electricity.
SunEdison's model has been proven to be incompetent. SolarCity's "MyPower" loans have been scuttled. That's WITH the current large number of pro-solar subsidies that the US Government is paying for.
I think that it's a "no brainer" to take advantage of SolarCity's deals as a consumer. But in the long-term, it looks like their finances are unsustainable.
Personally speaking, I'm more concerned about a long-term reliable model that manages to get the energy to the most number of people. Utility scale solar seems to be the best solution, although its a bit boring.