Solar energy

 

 

Rooftop solar collectors seem like such a good idea.  They generate the electricity right where it’s going to be used.  They don’t require any additional land use.  They’re disbursed, so they’re resilient to natural disasters and local weather events.  And if they generate more than the house needs, they can feed the excess back into the grid.

 

What I wonder about though is that there seems to be a limit for how many to put on a roof, that limit being meant to cover the average energy use of each house installing them.  I recognize that not everyone can afford the up-front costs to install solar panels, but my thought is that if we have such a wonderful way to generate electricity, why would we want to limit it?  For those that can afford it, encourage them to install as many panels as they want.  Let them feed excess power back into the grid so the utility company doesn’t have to generate as much with oil and gas.  If the energy grid can’t support the privately generated amount, update the grid.  If the utility fee structure can’t support privately generated electricity, update the fee structure.  Incentivize private citizens to generate more than they need and take advantage of it instead of building more power plants!