Fuddyduddy1952
Elite Member
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2022
- Messages
- 3,565
- Tractor
- john deere
All things to consider. Ultimately the taxpayers pay and utility bills increase. Never a free lunch. Those who don't buy EVs still pay more for power.In South Carolina I see commercial solar farm/factories becoming more and more abundant. Large acreages. Most people need to make money on their lands whether growing trees, farming, cows, etc. I don't harbor ill feelings on solar. But I do have feelings on esthetics. But I have other questions.
Without federal subsidies I do not see how a commercial solar factory/farm could be profitable. These companies are paying thousands of dollars per acre to the landowner to lease the land for panels each year. (More than a farmer could make farming). Those companies also pay the difference when the land is rezoned to a different commercial use. Each year panels lose some of their effeciency through age, not to mention the newer panels being produced all along are more efficient than what is already installed. There is some land degradation from panels leaching, too. I don't see how these commercial solar companies will be in business in ten or thirty years considering the costs. What happens if the company bails or goes bankrupt? What happens if your heirs don't want those panels on the family farm? To me this sounds like a pyramid scheme funded by subsidies and I wonder about the long term viability of those solar companies. Remember how to get rich quick with ostrich farming?
Our power company charges 14c/kwh now, they will buy residential solar back, but at 3c/kwh.