Posted on 01/13/2016 6:16:54 AM PST by doldrumsforgop
More Americans are now installing solar panels on building rooftops than mining coal or extracting oil and gas, according to a report released Tuesday by the non-profit solar advocacy group The Solar Foundation.
The shift is a profound one that highlights how U.S. clean energy, both solar and wind, have emerged as large and rapidly growing sectors. It also shows how many traditional fossil fuel industries like coal and oil have struggled to expand in recent years.
The U.S. solar industry grew dramatically in 2015, and is expected to continue to do so this year. The industry now employs 209,000 workers after adding over 35,000 jobs last year. By the end of this year, its ranks are expected to grow to 240,000 workers.
The solar sector employs 77% more workers than the U.S. coal mining industry does today, according to
(Excerpt) Read more at fortune.com ...
Solar is an unregulated danger with no valid studies justifying our government’s love fest with it.
Want to know more just ask your local fireman.
Is there any job in the solar industry that isn’t subsidized by the US government?
“Want to know more just ask your local fireman.”
Like any other electrical installation solar is covered by the National Electrical Code and is safe.
Some people are explicitly government employees. Some are indirectly government employees.
What happens when the Federal subsidies disappear?
How do you replace your roof when it’s covered with solar panels?
“Like any other electrical installation solar is covered by the National Electrical Code and is safe.”
From installers being picked up in the Home Depot parking lot to basic recommendations of the solar company not being followed and home/business owners not knowing or being able to maintain the product - solar is not safe. Nor is it proven.
It is recommended that solar only be put on new roofs. I haven’t seen a study on the life span of the solar equipment.
“What happens when the Federal subsidies disappear?”
Without subsidies, Solar will die.
Don’t believe me, trust those staunch conservatives like Bill Gates and Google Management
http://marshall.org/energy-policy/solar-flim-flam-and-more-snake-oil/
How do you replace your roof when it’s covered with solar panels?
In Massachusetts an asphalt roof lasts about 20 years. Last winter’s blizzards and following ice dams wiped out a lot of roofs. There is no way it is cost effective to install solar in Massachusetts even with all the government rebates. I would assume solar panels would lower the worth of your home in this state.
From installers being picked up in the Home Depot parking lot to basic recommendations of the solar company not being followed and home/business owners not knowing or being able to maintain the product - solar is not safe. Nor is it proven.
Solar panels have to be installed to code and pass electrical and building inspection. Fires caused by solar panels are rare but it has happened just like any electrical house fire.
I read somewhere that a reporter went to a solar farm and got a tour. He asked the fellow giving the tour when the break even point on the panels would come. He was told never that the panels would have to replaced before they ever paid for themselves. That is what I remember and like the reporter it was a hard idea to grasp.
A lot of roofs here in New England are rated for 30 years, PV modules are now reaching 20 years, micro-inverters 25 years.
The panels themselves extend the life of shingles but shielding them from the elements.
Yes I install solar, hundreds of systems now. The company I work for will remove and re-install panels for re-roofing.
The break even point for solar is about seven years now (yes subsidized), depending on the panels & inverters used they last between 15 and 25 years.
You'll replace the solar panels 3 times before you need to worry about replacing the roof. Just time it so the replacements are happening at the same time.
“Fires caused by solar panels are rare...”
Making up information isn’t helpful. The National Fire Incident
Reporting System and the Fire Incident Data Organization do not yet record solar data.
“Making up information isn’t helpful”
Exactly.
Where’s your proof that PV systems are unsafe ?
They are grounded, have overcurrent and short circuit protection, arc fault & ground fault protection, rapid shutdown requirements, etc, etc, etc.
If they were so unsafe where are the newspaper stories, films at 11 ? The truth is Christmas trees present a bigger danger.
“where are the newspaper stories, films at 11”
Widely available if you sift past the government propaganda. Google is your friend. Or talk to the firemen who have to bring in the ladder truck to fight the fire from the sky.
“government propaganda”
Oh ok.
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