Another American Scam Part 1

This year with the price of gas hitting over $4.00 a gallon, tax breaks for the new green society, Al Gore making his case about global warming, using the wind and the sun, and all of a sudden America seems eager to kick its addiction to oil and other fossil fuels.

"Enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the world's energy needs for a year."
--Al Gore, former U.S. vice president

Talk is cheap, but solar is not so cheap no matter how much hits the earth.

There are a lot of people licking their chops on how they are going to use green to make their green money on wind and solar.

I'm not necessarily against wind or solar power, but there are a few things that seem to be left out along the story telling way.

Let's discuss solar:

This is nothing new. In fact, in the 1860s Auguste Mouchout developed the first solar steam engines, forerunners of modern parabolic dish collectors, which concentrate the sun's heat to produce steam that powers electrical generators.

In 1939 MIT scientists build Solar I, first solar-heated house in the United States.

In 1954 Bell Laboratories developed the first silicon solar cell; produces enough energy to power common electrical devices.

In 1979 Jimmy Carter installs solar panels on White House roof.

In 1986 Ronald Reagan removed them.

What did Ronald Regan know? More than Carter that's for sure.

Maybe Gore is correct when saying enough of the sun's energy reaches the earth's surface to satisfy all our energy needs. What he doesn't say is there is a huge expense in harnessing it in usable form.

Solar cells made of silicon convert sunlight into electricity, which is then wired to the power grid. For decades, they've powered calculators, satellites, and homes.

While solar is a nice idea, since the 1860's we have not been able to make the price of installation, maintenance and payback feasible.

Cost has been the main impediment to a large-scale shift to solar. While the sun is free, the hardware and the labor needed for installation that converts it to usable electricity is not. Not to mention the amount of land required.


A solar farm has opened in Spain that consists of 120,000 solar panels over 100 hectares (247 acres). It also has a peak capacity of 20 megawatts and it can power up to 20,000 homes—making it the world's largest solar farm to date.

Again it takes 247 acres and 120,000 solar panels to power 20,000 homes.

But technological advances have helped cut costs by some 80 percent since 1980, with further declines expected.

Costs have been cut by 80 percent since 1980 but solar is still cost prohibitive without subsidies.

Scientists are experimenting with other materials to capture more of the sun's power and cut manufacturing costs.

One technique, known as concentrating solar power, uses an array of mirrors, lenses, and liquid-filled tubes to turn the sun's intense heat into steam, which then powers an electric turbine.

Advances could one day allow the sun to replace coal and nuclear plants as our main source of electricity.

I wonder why we never hear these important talking points? Maybe no one is talking.

This ends part 1 of what I perceive as a major scam the majority of Americans are unaware of, but will pay dearly for.

Tomorrow in part 2 I will discuss the wind.