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« Keep CALM with the TV on | Main | I am perpetual. I keep the country clean. » Goverment bureaucracy we won't try to get rid ofTake this with a grain of salt since one of the writers of this editorial runs a solar energy company and would surely like to see less regulation in his industry. But it does seem that the combination of sanctioned monopolies and local regulations are not helping what ought to be an obvious conversion to solar. Solar panels have dropped in price by 80 percent in the past five years and can provide electricity at a cost that is at or below the current retail cost of grid power in 20 states, including many of the Northeast states. So why isn't there more of a push for this clean, affordable, safe and inexhaustible source of electricity? We've reached the tipping point on solar panels where the ROI is clear and in a "free market" customers would be moving in that direction. The fact that increased energy from solar has benefits beyond an individual consumer's power bill ought to mean that this is an issue you would think Republicans and Democrats alike could get behind. Here in New Jersey, PSE&G actually started doing some good things along these lines under Governor Corzine, like putting up solar panels on all their utility poles, but Christie put a stop to it. Even so, i'd rather see something that doesn't rely on the existing grid, at least exclusively. I find it very odd that people who have solar panels on their roofs still can't get power during a power outage, because all those panels do is feed back into the grid, not directly into your home. I don't see why the panels can't be designed to feed your home directly and then you draw from the grid to make up the difference when necessary. Min and i live in a townhouse, so the whole conversation is moot for us, but we still harbor (increasingly fleeting, as we get older) dreams of building our Earthship. I probably need to adjust my thinking, but to me it's not really solar power unless you're off the grid. By fnord12 | December 13, 2012, 10:37 AM | Liberal Outrage |