Third". There is something that
must be done with the current solar PV industry before any of this can
likely happen. It must first be "Freed": Made free from the present "leaders""
who are, and this is often amazing news to many folks... the oil corporations
themselves such as BP who are the largest players in the solar PV market. Their
"leadership" here, for decades now, has been an utter, complete, and perennial FAIL . In fact, in the last 3 years we have seen the cost to individuals for
installing Solar PV rise significantly, not lower. The obvious and inherent
illegality regarding Anti-trust, RICO Act Racketeering, and Stock Manipulation
cannot be denied. Whether corporate lawyers can endlessly argue
carefully-crafted "gray-area" legality for these practices is beside the point:
It clearly breaks the Intent of Anti-Trust laws (some of them specifically
designed to cut off the smothering tentacles of "Standard Oil" in an earlier
age); and this situation desperately needs to change. Somehow, these energy
giants appear to be immune from Anti-Trust and stock manipulation laws simply
because they are in the energy sector (and we can see this illustrated in how
speculation on the Energy Commodities Markets allows them to control both
"Supply", and "Price", and do so rather openly... something that is happening right now, again, as this is being written in April, 2011). They must be
"urged", or forced via threat of investigation or legislation if need be, to
sell off all PV solar holdings. Something so important to us all and to our
very survival as "energy"; cannot be allowed to be manipulated by a few
entities for their own ever-higher levels of profit. A true Solar
Initiative cannot "work" unless the panels can be manufactured freely and in
huge quantities, so the price and Return of Investment Period greatly lowers
and Solar PV systems become affordable to the Middle Class of America... and as a
side benefit, also eventually affordable to many folks around the world such as
those in Rural Africa or South America who will finally be able to join the
rest of the planet in increased prosperity via access to clean and cheap
renewable energy.
And last, there should be
redoubled and greater effort, urgency, transparency, and incentive to
Universities and some "spin-out" companies holding new Patents on
higher-efficiency solar panels, and other related solar-based technologies
(such as hydrogen production from water using solar energy, as both Dr. Daniel
Nocera of M.I.T. and Dr. Nate Lewis of Cal Tech and their teams have very
important and potentially world-changing discoveries for)... to insure the major
recent improvements and discoveries DO reach market. These new more efficient
technologies will allow fewer panels to be mounted on our roofs to produce the
same wattage; and the new solar Hydrogen producing technologies show great
promise as an alternative method to batteries for storing energy for night-time
use (using the Hydrogen efficiently produced from solar energy to then power
electrical generators or vehicles). Right now, the greatest Efficiency
commercially available for solar PV panels is "19%" (most are around 14%). But
there are at least 5 different, if not many more, technologies out there right
now that could raise the efficiency levels to at least 30% within a short time
of being properly funded and pursued. One, such as that put forward by
researchers at Stanford University, uses cheap silicon and new thin film
manufacturing techniques to raise efficiency, and has apparently been under the
"auspices" of the Department of Energy for over 2 years now. These advances in
efficiency would greatly help the "R.O.I." and cost issues. And it should be
noted, that many announced improvements in solar PV efficiency have been known
about for years (even decades): The time for "feet dragging" regarding more
efficient solar technology should end... and this should also be a side-benefit
of the oil corporations giving up their industry-dominating solar PV holdings
and solar-related Patents. Patents should be means of protecting an inventor's
intellectual property: Not a weapon to hold world-improving technologies from
ever reaching market because it profits a few for the technology to be
"shelved" and forgotten. The planet, and Humanity, can not longer tolerate such
sociopath behavior: And corporations "caught" doing so, should be Prosecuted
both under Law, and in the "courts" of public opinion, losing all their
consumer sales via a disgusted populace, and being run out of business.
With better efficiencies married
to much lower costs from higher manufacturing volume in a truly free market"
Solar PV becomes so attractive, that soon no government incentives would be
required; as millions of Americans gladly install them because the price has
lowered dramatically and they wish to do their part to end most forms of
pollution and make America more secure internationally (and because it
personally saves them money and provides them a great deal of Energy
Independence from the privately-owned electric utility corporations). And it
should be noted, that the major government incentives mentioned here are only
needed to end the current artificially maintained negative situation in the
solar PV industry, one that will certainly continue for many more years unless
something "real" is done to change it. The prices will not significantly lower
until production numbers rise dramatically (assuming the current market leaders
even wish for such an outcome to begin with): And the Economy of Scale Benefit
cannot happen while they are too expensive for average people to afford... a
"Catch 22" conundrum that requires the "Gordian Knot" solution as no other will
be effective. Oil Corporations who have solar holdings and make 35 billion
Dollars in profits from oil sales (and often pay little or no taxes)... would
have an excellent opportunity to start this Economy Of Scale ball rolling all
by themselves: But they choose not to, and have so chosen for decades now, and
are highly unlikely to ever do so willingly. Therefore the decentralized Solar
Initiative must be done despite their vast influence and political power, and
against their strong desires. But this can be done: When military arms and
technologies are in question; the government will often strip away a Patent or
"take" an invention away from a "unsuitable" company or inventor; this happens
often when National Security comes into question. Energy is a highly critical
subject that has a great deal of National Security issues involved. And the
benefits for doing all this, for making a de-centralized Solar Initiative
happen, are certainly worth the doing.
How can we make the
decentralized Solar Initiative happen? The answer to this is deceptively
simple; yet requires real work to achieve. It is what gave us the
above-mentioned great victories of our past such as the Ecology Movement of the
1970's:
Grass Roots Activism and Greater
Public Awareness...
And by using Brinkmanship and
other non-violent means to make those in power so "uncomfortable", that change
becomes more comfortable for them than perpetuating the status quo. We must
remind them constantly that doing the right thing will see that they are
re-elected or remain in business; that no matter how much money the energy
corporations dump into Congressional campaigns, it won't matter if they can't
get any votes because the Constituents are disgusted with the blatant kowtowing
to the energy giants. We must create the perception that taking money from a
polluting and corrupt energy corporation, is like openly taking contributions
from "Lucky Luciano". We must remember as Americans united across Party lines
for an issue that touches us all, that we do indeed have a very powerful
collective voice... and we must learn to use it effectively again.
And then, like the chemical
plants indiscriminately dumping mercury into Lake Erie... like the corporations
carelessly dumping used oil products into the Cuyahoga in Cleveland to the
point of a River being declared a Fire Hazard... like the mills in Pittsburgh
pumping tons of carcinogenic pollutants into the air every second... like the
innumerable cities and towns dumping poorly treated sewage into the same rivers
that also provided drinking water... the inevitable and desperately needed
changes will finally happen: Through using our remembered collective Voice. And
so we can make this Solar Initiative, and the move away from dangerous and
polluting forms of energy in general, our next great Victory for all America,
and Humanity.
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