Assessing the Value of Solar Energy

Here’s a really solid article summarizing the thinking we should apply when determining the worth of solar as a replacement for other forms of energy.

There are two main things that are omitted here, and while I have to admit they’re extremely hard (impossible?) to quantify, they’re probably the most important:

• Environmental/Economic Issues that go Beyond Dollars/Ton of CO2. An incremental kilowatt-hour of solar always offsets something. Sometimes (though it’s rare), solar offsets coal, and, in that case, it’s keeping a whole raft of extremely toxic pollutants out of our skies and waterways.  Also, how exactly do we put a price on the resultant effects of these pollutants in terms of long-term environmental damage: climate disruption, ocean acidification, loss of biodiversity, etc.?

• The Utility Death Spiral. There is no doubt, now that the cost of solar has fallen so low, that a broad swath of the consumer and business marketplace has an immediate financial interest in putting up solar PV and telling its utility to take a hike, and this applies to people who couldn’t care less about the environmental issues.  But the migration to solar has a cascading set of consequences that are extremely difficult to calculate.

I urge readers to check out this terrific article.