The Question Day 17: What is the Most Difficult Issue Facing the Solar Industry?
By Renewable Energy World Editors
October 25, 2012 |
October 25, 2012 |
It's been a year of both continued expansion and mounting challenges for the global solar industry. RenewableEnergyWorld asked solar industry executives to share their thoughts and insights on one burning question:
What has proven to be the most difficult issue facing the solar industry during the past year and what are some key strategies to ensure long-term growth?
Responses will be updated daily, and we encourage you to lend your own voice to the discussion in the comments below.
Paula Mints, Principal Analyst, Navigant Consulting
Unfortunately the industry’s significant expansion over the past few years continues as one of the most significant challenges facing solar today and is a significant factor holding crystalline technology prices at historic lows. Rumors of low prices and expectations of even lower prices are likely the most significant factors standing in the way of a necessary price increase.
To overcome the expectation of “cheap,” the solar industry should consider retooling its story to focus on quality. Solar electricity is a high quality, reliable, long-lived electricity generating technology with minimal O&M. All solar systems need maintenance (cleaning), and the likelihood of a system needing an inverter replacement is close to 100 percent. However, no energy technology is maintenance-free and the necessity of maintenance is a non-argument that misses the point of solar.
The true value of solar is independence from utility rate volatility — and this is particularly true for distributed generation. The challenge of changing the industry story to one of energy independence is daunting, but it is crucial to the future of solar. We need to redefine ROI industry-wide so that it stands for “Return on Independence,” because the value of independence is too high to be quantified.
Paula Mints is principal analyst, PV Services Program, and associate director in the energy practice at Navigant Consulting.
Check back tomorrow for more insights.
Lead image: Podium via Shutterstock
Mark Cerasuolo, Strategic Brand Marketing Manager, OutBack Power
The biggest challenge facing the solar industry is politicization, which is to be expected in an election year. However, solar is an unusually partisan issue. Ironically, solar energy is now more cost-effective than nuclear, which was heavily government-subsidized for generations. Solar is uniquely cartel-, utility- and monopoly-free, and unlike most wind and hydro systems, the resulting energy can be used at point-of-generation.
So at the intersection of big money and big government, solar — a politically divisive topic and the target of negative scrutiny — faces an unusually stiff headwind. Taking the politics out of the agenda and replacing them with economic objectivity and reason is the key to stability, which is what the solar industry needs to reach its full potential.
A prime example is the multitude of incentives promoting solar. State and federal incentives offset part of the cost of a solar installation, and with net metering policies users can save more money by selling unused electricity generated by their solar panels back into the utility. However, the myriad state and regional net metering policies are changing.
Responses will be updated daily, and we encourage you to lend your own voice to the discussion in the comments below.
Paula Mints, Principal Analyst, Navigant Consulting
Unfortunately the industry’s significant expansion over the past few years continues as one of the most significant challenges facing solar today and is a significant factor holding crystalline technology prices at historic lows. Rumors of low prices and expectations of even lower prices are likely the most significant factors standing in the way of a necessary price increase.To overcome the expectation of “cheap,” the solar industry should consider retooling its story to focus on quality. Solar electricity is a high quality, reliable, long-lived electricity generating technology with minimal O&M. All solar systems need maintenance (cleaning), and the likelihood of a system needing an inverter replacement is close to 100 percent. However, no energy technology is maintenance-free and the necessity of maintenance is a non-argument that misses the point of solar.
The true value of solar is independence from utility rate volatility — and this is particularly true for distributed generation. The challenge of changing the industry story to one of energy independence is daunting, but it is crucial to the future of solar. We need to redefine ROI industry-wide so that it stands for “Return on Independence,” because the value of independence is too high to be quantified.
Paula Mints is principal analyst, PV Services Program, and associate director in the energy practice at Navigant Consulting.
Check back tomorrow for more insights.
Lead image: Podium via Shutterstock
Mark Cerasuolo, Strategic Brand Marketing Manager, OutBack Power
The biggest challenge facing the solar industry is politicization, which is to be expected in an election year. However, solar is an unusually partisan issue. Ironically, solar energy is now more cost-effective than nuclear, which was heavily government-subsidized for generations. Solar is uniquely cartel-, utility- and monopoly-free, and unlike most wind and hydro systems, the resulting energy can be used at point-of-generation.So at the intersection of big money and big government, solar — a politically divisive topic and the target of negative scrutiny — faces an unusually stiff headwind. Taking the politics out of the agenda and replacing them with economic objectivity and reason is the key to stability, which is what the solar industry needs to reach its full potential.
A prime example is the multitude of incentives promoting solar. State and federal incentives offset part of the cost of a solar installation, and with net metering policies users can save more money by selling unused electricity generated by their solar panels back into the utility. However, the myriad state and regional net metering policies are changing.
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