The Solar Fraud

I recently came across the book “ The Solar Fraud:  Why Solar Energy Won’t Run the World”.  Always interested in hearing both sides of an argument, I had to pick it up, and I’m very glad I did.  The author, Howard C. Hayden, is a theoretical physicist, with no ties to the energy industry (renewable or otherwise).  It was so refreshing to read a straight-forward, logical evaluation of renewable technology.

I was raised (along with the rest of recent generations) listening to the siren’s song of renewables, which would “soon be raining down limitless free energy and breaking our dependence on foreign oil”.  I went to graduate school at UW- Madison and spent a year and half in the world renowned Solar Energy Laboratory learning about the latest advances in solar technology. 

Well, here we are in 2009, and it is a scientific fact that renewable energy is still unable to provide a significant portion of our energy needs.  According the Energy Information Administration report released May 15, 2009, “other renewables” (biomass, geothermal, solar and wind) generated only 3.5% of our country’s electric power.  3.5%!!!   How can you hope to run a technologically advanced nation on only 3.5% of its’ required power? 

Even at 100% efficiency for solar conversion (that is, full daylight at noon in the tropics being completely converted to energy), you would need a land area roughly equivalent to the state of Minnesota completely covered with solar panels.  How could a project with that large of an environmental impact ever hope to be developed when faced with current regulatory hurdles?  Couple this with the inherently unpredictable nature of solar and the difficulty of tying production from the best resource locations to where the energy is needed, and it is blatantly obvious that we are not ready, and may never be ready, to run our country completely on renewable energy. 

While I continue to be a supportive of renewables and an environmental steward, I know the limitations of the technology, which were eloquently summed up in Dr. Hayden’s book.  I encourage you to do your own research and become an educated energy consumer.  Hats off to Fox 11 for providing balanced coverage.

Related Links:

Energy Information Administration – Report of Monthly Energy Generation March 2008 – February 2009

Common Sense Home – The Solar Fraud (extended length article)