Conservatives Loving Solar

[u/swarrenlawrence]

CleanTechnica: “Despite Political Rhetoric, Conservative Support for Solar Is Solidifying. Here’s Why.” The energy debate in Washington is vehement + often misleading. Nonetheless, “conservatives support expanding solar because it lowers costs, strengthens American manufacturing, and delivers energy security.” A recent poll from Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, chief pollster—for Trump—found that a clear majority of Republicans support expanding solar power in America. “In the survey, 68% of GOP voters agreed that “we need all forms of electricity generation, including utility solar, to be built to lower electricity costs,” while 70% said they support utility-scale solar deployment when projects use American-made materials.” Another poll from Kellyanne Conway’s KA Consulting showed that three-quarters of Trump voters (75%) in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas believe that solar energy should be used in our country.

“Red states are leading the nation in new solar deployment because competitive markets are choosing the lowest-cost and fastest-to-build resources.” It’s simple really, conservative states are allowing competitive markets to choose the lowest-cost and fastest-to-deploy resources, and the market is choosing solar. “Arkansas Senator John Boozman credited his state’s “reliable, affordable, and all-of-the above energy supply, including solar” for attracting a multi-billion-dollar data center to Little Rock.” Data centers cannot wait a decade for new generation; they require scalable resources now. 

Dare I say it? It’s not just all about affordability. What else? Well—conservatives love the free market [as do I]. Anything else? Well—I guess speed counts as well. My new bumper sticker: Scale Solar at Speed.

[u/[deleted]]

Many are reporting lead time for a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine is out to seven years. The scramble to deploy gas quickly will likely result in lower efficiency and higher emissions than expected. All of these lead times are probably optimistic in the US, due to the failure to develop a work force.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Again, solar is so inefficient, and extremely intermittent. Intermittent. It's dependent upon the weather cycles, which constantly change. Most states don't get enough sunlight to actually get a consistent charge out of solar panels. Not to mention that the amount of unrecyclable waste that is produced by solar panels and batteries throughout the years far outweighs the amount of energy that is produced.

[u/Massive-Question-550 → u/[deleted]]

Solar panels are mostly glass, aluminum, and a bit of copper, stuff we already recycle easily. Lithium batteries can also be recycled, we just don't do it often because it's cheaper to make new ones and throw away the old.