Letter to the editor: Solar potential is low in Western Pennsylvania

Regarding the article “Solar farms begin cropping up in Western Pennsylvania”: You should curb your enthusiasm for solar power. Our location is not optimal at all for solar potential, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (see maps at www.nrel.gov/gis/solar.html). It’s like putting your hair dryer on full power yet only getting warm air from it 85% of the time.

It’s only through government grants/credits that David Hommrich, president of Sunrise Energy, can claim solar is competitive. I wonder what the percentage of his “sometimes cheaper than fossil fuels is”? My guess is less than 5%.

A better use of the land seen in the photo accompanying this article would be to use it as a CO2 to O2 converter*.

Solar power is a good fit for the Southwest where the sun shines 95% of the time. Pennsylvania’s energy “Gold Standard” is natural gas.

* CO2 to O2 converter = hillside of trees and plants.

Carl Massart

Buffalo Township