I can quote you solar thermal right now that costs about the same now and less over time than just getting a standard instant hot water system.

I can quote you the same number of panels in PV and cost you approximately 50% more. I work in the industry I do it all day your horribly wrong Rob.

Solar Thermal is a slam dunk, anywhere. Go heat a pool a better way…. I dare you. try it. call someone up and say heat my pool. get a price. call your solar guy and say heat my pool. BAM, instant no brainer. Maybe…. Maybe I’m in a better situation because I am in North Carolina. However, you can depreciate the system, get your tax breaks and achieve an ROI higher than any bank, stock market fund or other standard investment.

In addition, you will be spending less of the taxpayer cash than if you just kept cranking up the coal fired power. Don’t believe me? go read Tom’s earlier article on subsidies and actually read the document he is using as his “source” and it straight up shows you that solar takes less of your taxpayer dollars than coal despite saying the exact opposite in his article.

What you should be doing is lining the tops of gas stations with solar panels to try and keep the cost of gas down by eliminating the overhead costs.

Once again. I am out here in the world, not sitting in a think tank, I do this for a living I see the results it is completely the opposite of this article.

The solar industry is growing at 33% a quarter according to Bloomberg News *real reporters* the reason is…… it makes sense anyone who actually runs the numbers would want to do it. I’m a conservative and this diatribe does our whole country a disservice. Buffet is doing it, Google is doing it. It makes business sense.

Get rid of my state-run power monopoly hiking up the power 15% a year and then talk to me about something other than solar. I am going to independent of their BS and saving money doing it. If this really is a free-market think tank you should be behind getting off the grid and controlling your own destiny as much as possible not trying to twist the facts to keep the government-run monopolies in power.

Remember also that these loan guarantees were finalized in 2011, not 2009. The uncertainty was clear by then.

This is the problem with putting taxpayer dollars behind politically determined technologies. Projections change, technologies fail and taxpayers are left holding the bag. There are always excuses about why the investment seemed like a good idea at the time, but there is a reason investors seek taxpayer subsidies: private investors won’t take the risk. If people won’t risk their own money, why should politicians risk ours?