Is solar the next shale?

Wood Mackenzie ^ | 01 Feb 2015 | Woods MacKenzie

[thackney]

The scope of the solar-induced transformation will depend on political decisions made in the future. The shale revolution also depended on political decisions.

I see this comparison as intentionally misleading.

Wide scale Solar Power is dependent on how much government helps it.

Wide scale Shale Development is dependent on how much government hurts it.

If the government simply got out of the way, limiting itself to reasonable, consistent regulations, shale would thrive and solar would only have very limited use.

[thackney]

I see Solar Power as potentially useful to shave peak loads in areas where Cooling is a significant part of the load cycle.

A lot of the south has significant air conditioning loads that correspond well with solar output. On cloudy days, the electrical demand tends to go down as well.

Energy storage is too costly to be effective for Solar Power to replace base loading.