solar misconception

Today's WSJ has a special section on Energy. It starts with an article on our addiction to oil and what, if anything we should do about it. Then some about better batteries, and so on. Not much new there. However, what caught my eye was an article entitled:"Consumers as Producers." It discusses solar energy and whether people who install solar cells and supply power to the grid should be paid, and if so, at what rate.

Various arguments can be made in favor of, or against reimbursing customers. The article goes through all of them, highlighting the various pros and cons. It has no conclusion, other than to say, it is too early to tell. Because, in true WSJ fashion, the free market has to decide what works best. What "works best" means who gets to install the most solar cells. I.e. who consumes the most.

I am sorry but the article totally misses the point. The point being that people should use less energy. They should conserve energy. That should be the primary motivation: to use less of whatever energy it is they use. Instead we are once again seeing the opposite knee jerk reaction. Homeowners who want to produce energy to get paid, others who want solar so they can use more energy without having to pay, still others who go on use more to spite the utility that won't pay them for the extra juice they produce, etc. etc.

Earlier I told a story of a neighbor who installed solar panels so he could run the AC and the heater simultaneously. He wanted to use more power but did not want to pay the high rates. On top of it, he sincerely believed he was doing something good for the planet and even wrote an essay in a Segway contest on how he was environmentally aware. Guess what, he won the Segway too. So now he can use solar energy to drive his Segway instead of walking!

What we need to realize is that we use too much energy. We Americans use twice as much energy as rich Europeans -and they use too much to begin with. We need to use less. All energy use is polluting and there is no such thing as clean energy.

Unfortunately, the only remedy appears to be high prices. It is a solution nobody likes but it is the only one that works. We will need to tax ourselves heavily lest we pollute ourselves out of existence.