But I respectfully disagree with the statement: "Even as the impossible dream of a wind/solar-powered economy collapses everywhere it is tried...". Decentralized solar (meaning the land owner or homeowner implements solar for himself) can work well if you're in a good situation for it. Especially if you don't define success as being totally dependent on it (I'm not off-grid) but as preventing you from having to buy most of the power you need for your family.
I watched a video of using water reservoirs as a “battery” to be emptied in peak demand of electricity with the water driving a generator to produce electricity. In off peak times time the water would be pumped back into the reservoir. All this with a 20% loss of potential energy on each cycle. So my question is where does the 20% come from to keep this water battery cycling.
The cost to homeowners to install solar is rather prohibitive for most. Not only would we have to buy all the equipment and the installation but we would be making those payments for several years. I read it is estimated to take 20-25 years for solar to actually pay for itself. If you can afford it, great! It’s like buying an EV. Couldn’t afford it and having to install a charging station is pricey.