Economics 2/2

Mar 7, 20171 min read

Future Rooftop Solar Costs - Getting to $2.50/watt

The solar industry is one of our most obvious success stories. Our industry directly employs 261,000 people. We generate energy that is...

Dec 12, 20162 min read

I Was Wrong About Peak Oil

We used to worry about the time when the world would start running out of fossil fuels, defined as Peak Oil. The concept of Peak Oil is...

Oct 10, 20162 min read

The Real Cost of Electricity

Electricity is a commodity – indistinguishable regardless of the source (all kwh are the same), available from different suppliers and...

Aug 1, 20161 min read

Rooftop Solar is a Low Risk, High Return Investment

Traditional finance theory characterizes investments by their risk and their return. High risk investments, such as junk bonds, have to...

Mar 7, 20161 min read

How Long Will Oil and Gas Prices Stay Low?

– $31.03 per barrel – current spot crude oil price – $59.95 per barrel – price of an empty steel oil barrel on Amazon – $82.50 per barrel...

Feb 5, 20162 min read

Bob Dylan summed it up: “The times [of the rates], they are a changing.”

If you are on the current E-6 TOU rate you don’t need to do anything. This E-6 rate is currently slated to stay in place until 2020 or...

Jan 17, 20161 min read

Solar Incentives in 2016

Over the past few months you may have seen or heard a continuous stream of ads warning about the imminent demise of solar incentives,...

Jan 4, 20161 min read

Equipment for Your Commercial Solar Installation

Whenever I land in a city I can’t help noticing how few — if any — commercial rooftops have solar panels. Historically, there have been...

Dec 21, 20151 min read

The Push Towards 100% Renewables With Clint Wilder

Mankind has been in an energy transition ever since two cave-boy scouts rubbed two sticks together and created fire. Although the world’s...

Aug 3, 20152 min read

Utilities Agree That Fossil Fuels Can't Compete Against Renewables

According to Doc Brown, Marty McFly’s DeLorean needed 1.21 gigawatts to travel back in time. To put this in perspective, new gas power...

Jun 19, 20151 min read

Does Solar Increase the Value of my House?

I bet you don’t know that there is a home improvement investment that you can make that will increase the value of your house more than...

Apr 6, 20151 min read

Electricity From Nuclear Power Too Cheap to Meter -- Or Not?

It’s the environmentalist’s third rail question: “Should we promote nuclear power as an expedient way to reduce CO2 emissions?” On the...

Mar 3, 20152 min read

Cap And Trade - Good For Solar, Bad For Gas - Sep 2014

Over 95% of climate scientists have concluded that CO2 is the primary cause of global warming. Solving the problem requires a dramatic...

Feb 18, 20151 min read

Filing for your Solar Investment Tax Credit

Filing For Your Solar Investment Tax Credit - Feb 2015 It's getting to be that time of the year again -- tax time, that is. As all new...

Feb 18, 20132 min read

Reducing Customer Acquisition Costs for Home Solar Systems

“Comparison Shopping” for a solar power system is a great way for a homeowner to find the cheapest/best system for their needs. BUT IT...

Jul 5, 20122 min read

On the Road Towards Energy Independence

With all the bad press about the renewable energy industry, it’s easy to miss the fact that we are moving steadily down the road towards...

Aug 28, 20094 min read

Quick Trip to Grid Parity with New Solar Distribution Channels

Hmmm. Seems like our solar industry’s crystal ball is a bit blurry these days. Or maybe we don’t like the picture. With prices for panels...

Aug 10, 20072 min read

Record Utility Rates Make Solar Even More Cost Effective

Did anyone notice the juxtaposition of two utility news blurbs in the August 8th, 2007 Mercury News? Are we really that naive that we...

May 2, 20072 min read

Beware Before You Compare World Solar Markets

For the past few years I’ve been hearing about how efficient and less expensive it is to install solar power systems in Germany. Many...

Sep 20, 20061 min read

Financial Impact of the real "Silicon Shortage"

Since the “silicon shortage” began two years ago in the solar industry, it had the following financial impact: – Silicon refiners made...