Good News on the Energy Front

Editor/Staff

And it has nothing to do with a Shale Rebound. For the years this journal has been published it has occurred primarily in an off-grid office: Solar and Wind provide all the power one could possibly want to accommodate today’s advanced technology while sustaining other basic functions; Refrigeration, lighting, cooling, and so on, all via clean, “free” resources.

Solar isn’t exactly free since it does require an initial investment, as well as on-going costs to insure operation. But, in two key areas that has been rapidly changing, mostly due to a growing industry of competitive products, and owing to visionaries like Elon Musk. (Yes, I called him a “Visionary.” He’s either that or crazy given Space X, Solar City, Tesla and the varied and myriad other interests he’s championed.)

From Bloomberg, “The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined. And there's no going back.” We ask, “Why would anyone want to?” Their report contains some very interesting visual depictions as to the direction of Solar and alternative approaches, versus our old nemesis Fossil Fuels. It’s a game changer on a planetary level, altering the geopolitical landscape in formerly unimaginable ways. Too bad it didn’t happen 20 or more years ago...

So, with more entrants into the market to meet growing consumer demand, prices necessarily will fall. A case in point: Solar Panels - PV Arrays. Not that many years ago the price-per-watt ranged from $6 to $8 or more, even for poorly-performing, short-lived anamorphic panels. Today, decades-lasting, higher-powered crystalline panels can be bought for as little as 50 cents or less per-watt.

Still, nothing has curtailed the success of alternative energy schemes for both home and transportation more than batteries - the method by which power is stored for non-generating periods of day and night. Relatively short-lived, seen as high-maintenance for the average person, volatile as a result of producing explosive gases, massive in construct, dangerous to children, and a litany of other perceived and real threats, Lead-Acid batteries have been the mainstay of the industry with only limited exception. Elon wants to change that.

The Tesla Giga-Factory outside Reno, Nevada is central to Musk’s plan. Recognizing that one can only sell so many $80,000 cars, Musk sees a potential global market for lithium-based storage for home-based solar using highly efficient lithium technology to replace the old, bulky lead-acid configurations, the technology of which has remained unchanged for more than a century.

Why shouldn’t he? He’s the guy who brought the idea of solar power to homes and industry to a new level of success through Solar City, and he is well situated to deliver on this idea given that the Giga-Factory is about 200 miles or so away from a major Lithium deposit in King’s Valley, Nevada controlled by Western Lithium.

Musk proposes a safe, efficient, very low maintenance, high-capacity lithium-based storage system for at-home solar, moreover at a competitive price. Here at our office, we’ve run the numbers many times over the years: Plainly, to switch to lithium from lead-acid today is an expense equal to five- or six-times that of renewing our current lead-acid configuration: The Wow! factor alone isn’t sufficient to overcome the added cost. Elon proposes to bring lithium-based storage to a level where the price delta in that technology will be offset by longevity and efficiency.

Personally, I knew it would happen. It was only a matter of time. Too bad it didn’t happen four-degrees Fahrenheit ago.