‘One of the biggest cons in world history’

By John Hinderaker

Power Line Blog

We spend billions of dollars on solar panels and transmission lines, and in winter, when we need energy the most, they work only around ten percent of the time.

“Another reason for falling productivity in winter is snow cover. Even a thin layer of snow on panels can lead to significant reductions in electricity generation from solar panels, and as Ralph Jacobson, the founder of IPS Solar, has said in the past, it is too expensive to pay someone to clear snow off the panels.”

Process that fact: solar panels are such a lame energy source that when it snows, it isn’t worth it to pay someone–high school kids, probably–to shovel them off. (Comment: What is wrong with hiring school kids to do physical work in the winter?)

“In February of 2018, solar panels produced 14.6 percent of their potential output, and in 2020, they generated 17 percent. However, in 2019, solar facilities produced just 6 percent of their potential output, because that year had one of the snowiest Februarys on record.”

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/12/the-uselessness-of-solar-energy.php

6 percent of “potential output”? Has anyone ever had a job where six percent of potential output resulted in anything other than being fired? “Hey, I’m just as productive as a Minnesota solar farm” probably wouldn’t be a valuable argument.

Link at Maggie’s Farm

The photograph obviously is of snow-covered solar panels, not a “vast wind farm.” Only an editor would make that mistake.