My Word | ‘It’s important to understand why rooftop solar is indeed great’

Dennis Beaver warns against rooftop solar, citing solar industry bankruptcies and unscrupulous practices (PD). He also acknowledges that “Rooftop solar is great.” What he does not reveal, or explain, are the political deathblows the solar industry has suffered for decades that have multiplied under recent government and fossil fuel industry pressures.

In California, we have lost all our distributed solar support, justified by the spurious argument that the American Petroleum Institute (API) has used for decades: “… government subsidies for clean technologies distort(ed) free markets.” (Activists say their position is “dishonest” because the oil industry benefits from tax credits and other financial help from governments, and pays for only a fraction of the damage its fuels do to people and the planet).

Meanwhile, subsidies to the fossil fuel industry in the US alone amount to $757 billion annually, according to the International Monetary Fund, while subsidies for rooftop solar have, well, fallen through the roof.

It is important to understand why rooftop solar is indeed great. The Department of Energy has calculated that widespread distribution of rooftop solar could generate over 1 terawatt of electricity annually (1TW= 1 million megawatts, and can power about 200 million homes), electricity that could also be sold to balance the grid, benefiting both the public and private homeowners. A recent PG&E “proof-of-concept-experiment” using power generated from 100K homes outfitted with rooftop solar and battery storage successfully powered the grid. Home-generated power liberates the grid from domestic use to supply industrial needs, thereby reducing the need for more centralized power generation.

Widespread distributed rooftop solar creates the most regular jobs in the electricity industry, while contributing by far the least greenhouse emissions of any other electricity generator-with minimal transmission lines. The panels are composed mostly of recyclable materials without any rare earth elements. They require negligible, if any, maintenance over their 25-30 year lifespan, and, contrary to Mr. Beaver’s claims, can be conducted by any electrician. And perhaps best of all, home solar panels incentivize electric vehicle use, which includes a huge battery for mobile storage.

So, if they are so great, why the economic collapse?

We need only look to the fossil fuel industry and their collaborators in government, as summarized in a 2024 Guardian article:

“The oil industry has fought against government support for clean technologies for more than half a century, the Guardian can reveal, even as vast subsidies have propped up its polluting business model.”

“It lobbied lawmakers to block support for low-carbon technologies such as solar panels, electric cars and heat pumps as far back as the 1960s, analysis shows. Trade associations in the US and Europe stymied green innovations under the guise of supporting a “technology-neutral” approach to avoiding the damage done by burning their fuels.”

“In 1975, after a global oil crisis, the API opposed an energy-saving bill that included refundable income tax credits for heat pumps in homes.”

“In 1967, the API protested against a bill to promote the development of electric cars with the argument that governments should “stimulate all efforts by industry to eliminate automotive pollution, rather than dedicate federal funds to the promotion of any single possible solution”.

Echoing the current US government administration, API explained: “The United States has a large resource base of conventional energy such as oil, gas and coal,” it said. “Expeditious development of these supplies can make a significant contribution not only to improving US energy independence, but to create a healthy economy.”

How long would the oil and gas folks survive without their subsidies? Same as rooftop solar!

One reason government undermines rooftop solar is to prevent “Power to the People,” focusing solely on centralized generation owned by corporations and generously supported by tax dollars.

According to a vehicles analyst at the campaign group Transport and Environment, “The oil industry had moved from denying climate change to derailing climate action.”

Environmental groups, in their misguided zeal to combat climate change at the expense of biodiversity by supporting the generation of centralized “renewable” power like offshore wind, unwittingly contribute to the problem. Feeding the grid with enormous inputs from sensitive habitats does nothing to curb the electricity appetite of super-feeders like AI data centers, they simply add to them.

Dennis Beaver awakens the public to the consequences of our political failure to acknowledge and address climate change, especially the tragic loss of solar opportunities for individual homeowners to benefit from doing our part.

Ken Miller is a resident of McKinleyville.