Big Trouble For Solar Energy

Rarely mentioned in discussion of the economic meltdown in Spain is the fact that they have been a world leader in "green" technology; installing tons of solar arrays and fueling the demand required in order to ramp up production.  Now, they're pulling the plug on all that.  They've recognized that they can't keep spending $750,000 per "green job created" when they're going broke.  "Going green" has put them deeply into the red, and so they're dropping out of the game. This will have a significant impact upon the solar cell and wind power industries, as they've relied upon Spain to boost investment.

Comments

[David]

Spain is a world leader in solar power generation. So good at it they can generate highly profitable solar power at night! Read this: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-12/spanish-solar-panel-trade-group-calls-for-fraud-investigation.html

[Business Electricity]

Real estate tends to be a premium at the same place where energy demand is.

Areas that receive more than 8 kWh per square meter per day ("desert") usually don't have high real estate costs. In fact, it's quite a non-cost. The cost of land preparation can be significant, so a compact design is still a big advantage.

The eSolar approach is interesting as it is very different from traditional power towers. I wonder how it would compare to the Ausra approach. It's too early to tell right now.