DIY solar array 12.5 kw

[jeff5may]

Originally Posted by Exeric

I'm in accord with the basic ideas you are stating. There are several things to mention about the specific example of regulated power utilities. Even though they supply a service to almost every single person in every developed country they still exist as profit centers for shareholders. This may have to change as solar develops, especially photo voltaic.

This will NEVER EVER change. There are a jillion reasons for this, but the most relevant is that electric power utilities will ALWAYS create their own needs, force market scares, and dictate our demands to us from WAAAAY ABOVE. Just like the telecom industry, they satisfy an addiction to way, way, way too many people and industries to ever be divided or controlled.

As we speak, big oil companies, such as Chevron, Shell and BP (not regulated power utilities) are playing on both sides of the fence. On the one hand, they continue to lobby the lawmakers for enormous oil subsidies while bashing solar subsidies. On the other, they are quietly buying into the "back office" of the solar industry. Without this massive capital stimulus, the sheer amount of PV panels installed probably would not measure in the gigawatts per year range today. Their motivations, like the regulated power companies, are both political and profit-based. But they play the game from a more flexible position.

The best thing we can do as individuals is to vote with our wallets. The more self sufficient and energy efficient we can be, the less power the powers that be will have to wield against us. Rooftop PV is cost effective, if you can afford it, as it stands today. Whether or not the average consumer believes it is another story.