The upcoming California Solar crash will be similar to the stupid program they did for solar water and Water Heating Heat Pumps in the 80’s.
I would be surprised if 1% remain in use.
I made lotsa money for years as customers had to pay to decommission those useless systems.
The current solar panel crazzzz.... only exists because of wanna be greenies, tax deductions and predatory marketing by companies who are mostly inept mechanics and of course by legislators who are ignorant, Green brainwashed or filling their pockets from lobbyists.
These systems WILL ALL WEAR OUT over time.
Most parts are not interchangeable so repairs will be costly.
Few techs truly understand these systems as they are made to just drop in place by low skilled installers (different when needing to trouble shoot and repair)
There are so many brands, types etc that have already gone out of business .... good luck getting parts especially in California where warehouses have to pay inventory tax ! Why keep anything in stock?
The electric companies and greenies have been lulled into believing these systems are back filling power needs when if fact, when these systems begin to crash there will have been no pre planning to face the darkness.
Instead of building other traditional generation right now we will be years behind when this crashes. Yeah I understand power companies don’t wanna own transmission lines anymore. They just want to send out bills and have us subsidize their public relations messages and junk mail.
There are already safety issues with these systems and how they are tied to the grid. Just wait. High voltage electricity is Not Safe especially on the roofs of the typical California voter.
The Stupidity in thinking these 10’s of 1000’s of systems installed have reduced carbon footprint or other buzz-wordy nonsense will be fulfilled when they are eventually dismantled at great cost.
Land fill trash for these panels and components ? No this will be some expensive garbage even after dismantling expenses.
Silliest of all is these systems are owned by people who know Nothing about them high voltage systems that are atrophying on their roofs.
Few even know how to get on their roof. Good thing.
This coming problem is not on anyone’s radar except a few mechanical people who know better..... after all ... right now there’s money to be made continuing these stupid policies and plenty of roofs still waiting to have holes poked in them.
Go Green California ? Nope, going down Brown.
Mechanical power generation wears out (gas, coal, etc). Solar is solid state. If you mean degrade, yes. But the newest panels only degrade about 1% per year.
Land fill trash for these panels and components ? No this will be some expensive garbage even after dismantling expenses.
Yes, that will be large cost. If they decide to go all out with solar, then it will be a huge cost. The worst thing we could do right now is convert everything to solar with today's panels. I believe in solar and have lots of panels myself mostly for hobby purposes. If people want to put their own money into it, then fine. They get a subsidy, net metering, here in Virginia, that makes it pretty economical.
Ditto!