Our electrical grid is fine, were always adding more plants, to sustain the growth.

the thing we need to fix is oil...not coal, not nuclear, or any other power source.

we need to get our vehicles powered by something else...I prefer electric, the fuel cells and natural gas are still better then oil. (oh, and I didn't mentions ethanol for a reason, its bubble will burst in 1-2 years).

Sorry, but you, or Obama, or nobody, don't get to tell me what I do or do not put on my roof.

There is such a thing as private property rights, and this stuff is going way over the line.

The government won't allow new nuclear reactors, won't allow electrical grid lines to connect to more remote wind farm or solar plant locations, nor hydroelectric dams. If they won't do what they can do, that is their problem.

But they aren't going to come in and tell me what I will do to my home. They don't have that right.

Try to sell it to me on the open market if it is so wonderful, but mandates on my property, funded or unfunded (both come out of my pocket) are not acceptable, and won't be tolerated.

And Sorry, but the infrastructure and efficency of the automotive pool in this country won't be satisfactory on LNG, certainly not electricity or fuel cells, which are astronomically expensive, and limited capacity.

Liquid fuel from petrochemicals are not running out in the near term, if at all, and the nations cars are both necessary, and only about 3% of the nation's emissions of so called "pollutant" CO2. (I pollute by breathing... if you try to stop me, you'll stop first.)

Oil is the engine of the mobility and productivity of this country. If you tear that foundation stone out, our current economic mess will seam like a light breeze in comparison to that storm.

umm buddy the article was about putting in place tax cuts and financing for solar panels well more so than there already is and forcing utilitys to buy back the electricty that you do not use makeing solar even more appealing (you get money for the extra power)
now no one is coming onto your land and installing solar panels against your will so don't worry you can crawl into your bunker ans wait for them to pry your gun from your cold dead hands

Oil is not the engine or productivity of this country.It's the ball and chain which has kept
us from growning stronger as a nation to one that has only grown fatter.If you compare the tech growth in the past 20 to 25 years vs the auto
industry growth.Look at VHS video ,when it came out it cost alot to buy one but in time the price came down and new features were added.than came the DVD to replace the VHS,same thing happens that happened to VHS and now blue-ray is going to replace the DVD in time.I wont get started on cells and computers but im sure everyone has enough to understand my point.

why cant we have options when it comes to our energy?what has the auto industry done to make
our lives better and dont say airbags cause that falls under customer retintion

The idea that the auto industry can be compared to a tech industry is rediculous at best!

The auto industry has easily 100 times more rules and regulations put on each vehicle than your beloved bluray player.
If you get rid of the rules that are not necessary (emphasis on not necessary - some rules are necessary), you'll have cheaper cars a better selection and even more competition. Nothing like competition to make fuel ecomony better!

As far as having energy ideas go, putting solar panels on our roofs would only be good for maybe 70% of America. Seattle doesn't get the sun needed to make a 30000 investment in solar panels worthwhile. Obviously we need more than one solution.

My vote is to have an abundance of energy from anywhere that wants to do it.An example- Is the city willing to give a permit to build nuclear power? YAY! Hell build two! If the city next to it wants to build a wind farm that's excellent. The two of those cities can share power and BACK EACH OTHER UP.
The result would be cheaper power for all and no risk of blackouts from terrorists attacking the power grid.

Great article, especially in conjunction with an article that I recently read about these new solar panels that are made from recycled tire rubber and look just like regular roof shingles.

http://www.redwoodrenewables.com/

My only concern is that this solution won't really work in the city. Smaller buildings that could really benefit from this (ones that could generate almost as much or possibly more power than they need) will be in near-constant shadow from the larger buildings around them. And the larger buildings don't have enough square footage on their roofs to compensate for themselves. It'd be like trying to fill a gallon container with a cup of water.

This would certainly be great for suburbs and more rural areas, but I think the impact would be pretty minimal in the city -- and that's where most of our power supply is used so the overall effect might not be as great as it sounds, unfortunately.

Even so, if I can ever afford my own house, I'll certainly be looking towards installing solar panels on my own roof to help me out.

The "Old" New Deal is crippling us as a nation, and yet all I hear these days is how everyone wnats a "New" New Deal? Social Security and Medicare have 70 Trillion dollars in unfunded obligations - that is seven times our curent deficit - and we want the government to add even more services they cannot afford? We cannot fix the problems instituted by a big government Republican administration by instituting an even bigger government Democratic administration. We need to remove the hold overs from the "Old" New Deal that has rendered us into revenue generating numbers for the government and turn us back into individuals, rather than allow the governement to further dehumanize us and deprive us of our earnings.

Mandating technology does not make it better. Using taxpayer money to create an artificial market for subpar products is the best way to throw that money away.

The bar has been set very high by the mature energy technologies. The cost and energy density of oil and coal are the reason why it's the preferred method. Not because of some sort of concerted effort by the public and big business to keep alternative energy down.

We don't need more "what can be done about..." type articles regarding energy. The government needs to get out of the way, scientists need to find their alternative energy holy grail, business will do what it always does - package it and sell it to the biggest market it can find, and the public will do what we always do - go for the cheapest, easiest solution to our own energy requirements.

This cart-before-the-horse stuff is really getting annoying.

Question. If prices cost 15-30k currently for adding solar tech to your home, wouldn't those prices dramatically fall if this became mainstream?

The idea that the auto industry can be compared to a tech industry is rediculous at best!
Really now
First the 100 times rules they have to contend with which do you speak of that keeps the auto companys from improving the milage. if you visit
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bestworst.shtml
you'll see that toyota has done something
what has kept the big 3 from slaming whit something at least comprable and least we forget
http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com/
and by the way i liked what was said that solar could only help 70% of america is a huge step
where i live i am constintly hearing ads on the radio about puting a radiant barrier in my home to reduce engery cost by 20% how bout something that could reduce energy cost by 100%. I saw this water cooler on Dvice that made water out of thin air if that can be done why not our energy.

CHECK OUT THIS CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTION !! www.youtube.com/mygreatidea

Mass produced Solar cells will be cheaper than 5k if any of these plans come to light not to mention the competition for who could get the most Kw that cheapest

Check out: Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin

Personally I dont like mandates, but tax incentives & rules to allow energy by-backs will go a long way.

As an engineer I see pay the hype and realize that solor can contribute also but is not the only solution.

The current admin only pushed big oil. Perhaps the new guys will be able to encourage alternatives. Yes, oil still has it's place, but let get other sources in place before global competation for the same resource drives prices back up.

You know, watching all the negative comments, especially the first one in the list, it makes me slap my head in shame. Im ashamed to live in a country where people refuse to work with renewable energy sources because of "property rights". Give me a break.

I've been talking about this same thing for a few years. I believe our local ELECTRIC companies should help subsidize loans to help consumers install solar products on their roofs. So your electric bill goes to one set fee a month (hopefully worked out to be your average electric bill), but when its paid off, your bill is miniscule.

Not only that, but there is solar technology available now that will not only generate your power, but more than you need, allowing you to pump electricity BACK to the grid, at a potential CREDIT from your local electric company. All of the huge plants they keep building that eat our non-renewable resources could be converted into big batteries to store our excess energy for the cold months when the skies may be overcast alot.

In regards to those who say "I dont want that ugly blah blah on my roof". First, we're talking about renewable energy, dont be a dork. Second, there's new solar technology that can be applied to roofing tiles almost like a paint. You can take the FULL SURFACE of your roof and turn it into a solar panel, while your house retains its current look.

Is this the best solution? Probably not, but its the best one that Ive heard of, and I beleive a definite step in the right direction. I only wish we could get everyone else to listen.

Time for some real numbers folks. Installed cost of solar power for a typical home is $6-$8 per watt. It may come down with more mass production, but the panels available are made of silicon. While the price of computer parts have come down, they are still high per unit of area and you need a lot of area to capture solar power. For me, average cost of electricity by about $0.07 per kW-hr which puts breakeven at 100,000 hours. Forget the fact that the equipment won’t last 100,000 hours, the breakeven point for typical sunlight hours is 27 years. That wouldn't pass anybody's economic analysis. To meet a more realistic 5-7 year break even, cost to install would have to be about $1.75 - $2 per watt.

Dear LectricActMan,

You're right - time for some real numbers. Unfortunately, your numbers aren't all that "real."

Your installed cost is based on old technology - try reading some of the above posts more closely regarding new solar technology, and do some research. More efficient, less costly solar technology is in the pipeline, right now - today.

Also, your average cost of electricity is based on today's prices. Your math assumes those prices will not have risen in 15, 20, 25 years. Not likely, at all.

I'll grant you that there's an awful lot of shade in cities, but there's also an awful lot of wind! Wind turbines in cities would be great. And before you think that you need to live somewhere like New Mexico in order to make solar panels worthwhile, check out Germany! Not at all a very sunny country, but they have an amazing amount of solar energy being produced.

We have got to realize that doing what we've always done just isn't going to work anymore. Oil & coal are filthy and limited. Wind & solar are clean and absolutely limitless. If the wind and the sun ever stopped we'd have much bigger problems than electricity!

MANDATE... MANDATE.. ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS READ THE DAM POST "Mandate a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS). An RPS is the law in some states; it dictates that a certain percentage of power generated and used in the state must come from renewable sources or the utility must pay a fine"

THE UTILITY COMPANIES ARE THE ONES BEING MANDATED NOT US HOMEOWNERS
Mandating the UTILITY companies gives them incentives to use several of the proposed plans in order for them to make more $$$

PS READ THE FUCKING POST!