A recent cartoon questioned whether Pennsylvania has enough sunshine for Gov. Tom Wolf’s 10 percent solar goal. Germany was the No. 1 solar nation for years, and we get more sun than they do.
If you look at a graph of the price of solar in the last 15 years, it appears to be in “free fall.” No one seems to know when or if the price of solar will stop dropping before solar completely crushes the competition. This is why Wolf’s solar plan is visionary.
While the sun is intermittent, it is also free, reliable, available forever, and not subject to supply-and-demand forces. It is a myth that we need steady, 24-hour base-load power supplied by coal plants. But, coal plants fail to keep up with the huge spikes in demand on the grid, and we had to build peaker plants to make the grid reliable. If we had to build a grid to accommodate the inability of coal plants to meet demand ,then we most certainly can build a grid to manage the intermittency of solar with the added benefit of cleaner air and less greenhouse gases. This is something we can do and must do, because America will take bold action to cut carbon pollution.
Visit Future Fest April 20 and the Solar Fest June 22-23 in Pittsburgh to learn more about solar for your home or business.
Fred Kraybill
Point Breeze
The writer is vice president of the Solar United Network of Western Pennsylvania (SUNWPA).