The FT does solar

Pilita Clark, the FT's environment correspondent has written a bizarre analysis of the solar power sector. I can't make head or tail of it. Take this for example:

Prices vary widely depending on location but in Europe the average cost of power generated by residential solar PV systems ranges from 151 per megawatt hour to €275 MWh – more than double the cost of power from new nuclear, gas or onshore wind plants, according to IHS data.

Click to read more ...

Gloom and doom

Der Spiegel reports that this year looks set to be the gloomiest in Germany for decades and may even turn out to be the darkest on record (H/T Oliver Morton):

The days may be getting longer, but there's still not a hint of springtime sunshine in Germany. Weather data shows that this winter has been the gloomiest in 43 years. If the sun doesn't start shining soon, it will be the darkest winter on record.

This is a pity since Germany is, according to Wiki, "the world's top photovoltaics (PV) installer, with a solar PV capacity as of December 2012 of more than 32.3 gigawatts".

Don't expect this to change politicians' minds about anything though.

Yeo's speech

Tim Yeo has given a speech in London on energy policy (Telegraph coverage here). Here is the text.

Two hundred and fifty years ago, Britain sparked the first industrial revolution.

By harnessing the force of fossil fuels like coal;

Enterprising British engineers were able to deliver astounding innovations in industry and travel;

Creating huge wealth and prosperity as they forged the modern world.

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Green graft

The Telegraph - Louise Gray of all people - reports that money earmarked for climate change adaptation is being channelled to big corporate entities to subsidise windfarm manufacture:

[T]he World Development Movement said the money is going to large companies rather than helping poor people likely to suffer from climate change.

A recent example was £385m, channeled through a World Bank project to promote clean energy in poor countries.

WDM say that most of the money went to private companies to build wind turbines or solar panels for profit.

Some £10m ended up going towards a 27-turbine farm in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, operated by the French energy giant EDF, to be paid back in 15 years.

Read the whole thing.

Teaching solar power

Five lessons on how to waste  money.

Thanks to Max Farquhar for this link.

http://www.maxfarquar.com/2012/10/1010-itshappening-again/

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A win against the windies

Last night's Spectator debate produced a resounding victory for the forces of light. Votes were held on the motion "Scotland's energy policy is a load of hot air" before and after the debate. Struan Stevenson and I were ahead after the first vote, although not strongly so, but produced a strong swing during the course of the evening which left us with a resounding victory.

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Trouble at the mill

The UK's energy policy still looks as though it is being run by dyed-in-the-wool greens but elsewhere there is growing evidence that normal economic behaviour is starting to reassert itself. For example, solar panel manufacturers in China are on the verge of extinction (H/T/ Iain):

Two years ago, LDK Solar, one of China's largest solar panel makers, built a new, state-of-the-art factory in the central city of Hefei.

Last month, however, 4,500 of the staff were put on gardening leave. They receive 700 yuan a month to stay at home. The factory has shut down 24 of its 32 production lines.

..."There do not seem to be any orders. People are still turning up for work, but mostly just sleeping. The management has not said much, just that the United States has a new policy that is stopping our exports,"

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Dealing with overFITing

Representatives of the solar industry are apparently to march on Downing Street to protest that their subsidy is being cut.

Members of the solar sector are preparing to stage a protest calling on the prime minister to intervene to block anticipated plans to halve feed-in tariff (FIT) incentives for solar installations, which they fear will "kill off" the fast-expanding industry.

The new Cut Don't Kill campaign, founded by a coalition of 20 major companies from across the solar industry, is planning to hold a march next month calling on David Cameron to halt controversial plans to slash subsidies for small-scale PV installations.

Perhaps readers can suggest some slogans for these poor oppressed souls to shout at Dave and Nick.

How immoral?

The government is apparently going to consider cuts in subsidies to solar panel installations. Apparently wind power is going to be targeted too.

Intense discussions are taking place about precisely how far to cut the small-scale solar “feed-in tariff” (FiT) which pays households and companies for energy produced.

Some officials in the Department of Energy and Climate Change are calling for a reduction in the subsidy by three-quarters, according to industry sources.

That would mean a fall from the current level of up to 43p per kilowatt hour generated, to as little as 9p per kWh – a move which the industry claims would be devastating. If the government follows past precedent, any change would not affect homeowners with existing solar panels.

So the lucky few wealthy people will continue to be subsidised by the poor. It's just a matter of how much immorality the government decides to retain in the system.

Economist wants Corn Laws back again

The Economist has long been a bastion of liberal economic thinking, with an honourable history of arguing for free markets and free trade dating right back to the Corn Laws. So it's perhaps not a surprise to read the magazine's argument that governments have wasted vast sums in subsidising solar "energy" companies.

Europe’s solar subsidies have proved not just expensive, but also unreliable. As so often happens with such regimes, their excessive generosity has led to a glut of output, and their cost has risen, leading governments to cut rates. Capacity will probably shrink as a result, discouraging innovation.

Click to read more ...

So what about solar?

Following on from the previous posting, this thread is for any findings from a perusal of the solar chapter.