These claims were put forth by
1.) Solar is unreliable and makes the power grid more susceptible to blackouts.
A- FALSE – Weather predictions make solar power predictable and storage makes solar or wind predictable and dispatchable. Rooftop solar plus battery storage and an islanding inverter gives a home protection against blackouts.
2.) Electricity costs are higher.
A- FALSE – The costs of solar panels has dropped so much that solar is lower cost than any other power generation except wind. Rooftop solar will lower one’s electric bill significantly.
3.) Inefficient land use and destroys wildlife, views and natural habitat.
A- False – Solar is being installed on rooftops; on farmland (agrivoltaics) with crops growing underneath; on canopies in parking lots where they shade cars; on bodies of water where the solar panels and water both benefit; and on land which is desert and unused. No wildlife, nor habitat are harmed. You can install solar roof tiles that does not “destroy view”.
4.) Shorter lifespan than other sources.
A- False – Solar panels are replaced after 25 years when their output drops to 80%. The panels are sold as used, guaranteed to put out 250 watts. These get used for decades more.
5.) Solar panels are not easily recyclable and are often dumped in poorer countries.
A- Solar panels are 95% recyclable – aluminum is valuable. Many countries have laws requiring the solar panels be recycled.
6.) Manufacturing requires lots of energy and creates high levels of CO2 emissions.
A- FALSE – Solar panels generate much greater energy that what is used to make them. Solar panels generate zero CO2 emissions, much, much less than fossil fueled plants.
7.) Promoting solar over fossil fuels keeps developing countries in energy poverty.
A- FALSE – Community Solar is much more affordable than centralized power plants that require transmission lines that can cost $4 million per mile. Rooftop solar eliminates burning kerosene which causes health problems. Millions of people die every year from diseases caused by fossil fuel burning.
8.) Inefficient transmission of energy due to remote installation (line losses).
A- FALSE – Community solar and rooftop solar have lower losses than central generation, and costs are much less because solar does not require transmission lines.
9.) Solar panels require 10 times the minerals to deliver the same quantity of energy as a natural gas plant.
A- Absurd! – Solar panels require *zero* fuel to keep them running! Natural gas plants require a huge amount of fossil fuel (natural gas) that is causing climate change and polluting the Earth.
10.) 80% of solar panels are made in China where weak environmental regulations prevail and production processes are fueled by coal.
A- Only partially true. The Chinese have most of the industries in the east where the electricity is supplied by hydroelectric, solar or wind. China has over 300 Gigawatts of wind alone, which is equivalent to 300 + full-sized thermal power plants. The Chinese have been suffering with environmental pollution and are dealing with it, especially the air pollution. They are the first to realize that solar and wind are eliminating the air polution.
11.) Diverts resources from more effective strategies for reducing climate risk.
A- Absurd. I’m assuming this liar is a shill for the big oil and nuclear power industries. The “more effective strategies” claim is most likely new nuclear power plants (NPPs). New NPPs have multi-billion dollar cost overruns and delays causing them to take a decade or more to bring online. The new NPPs cannot compete with lower cost gas turbine, solar and wind generation.
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