Everyone has heard the pitch for solar energy, install solar cells on your roof and get free electricity from the sun. Sure they cost a lot up front, but they will last 25-30 years—which just happens to be about the payback time given current electricity rates from coal, nuclear and natural gas. However, if the panels produce less than their promised power or start failing in two or three years, or are unusable or unsafe, the economics of solar power collapses.
Rooftop solar panels at Hillsborough County Courthouse in Tampa, Florida, are producing less than half their promised power. Rather than lowering electricity costs, as promised, the poor-performing solar panels are causing a dramatic increase in electricity costs. The solar panels are producing less than half their promised electricity and are reducing the courthouse's electricity bill by only $27,000 per year, which is only a 15 to 18 percent reduction instead of the promised 45 percent. At $27,000 per year it would take 45 years to recover the solar panel's costs. Accounting for inflation, it would take close to 50 years to recover the costs. Solar panels have a typical lifespan of only 15 to 20 years, and the effectiveness of the panels decreases throughout the panel's lifespan. (1)
And here's something else to consider. A full third of the days in Tampa are mostly cloudy, with at least 70 percent cloud cover. In most other states, and particularly northern states and states east of the Rockies, solar power is less productive than in Florida. Although solar power is less than half its promised power at Tampa's Hillsborough County Courthouse, the solar panels would have performed even more poorly in other states. (1)
Customers in central Florida discovered that after paying $20,000-40,000 for their systems they were stuck with installations that were possibly unusable or unsafe. A year ago it was revealed that BlueChip Energy's solar panels had counterfeit UL labels—this means that the panels may not comply with standard safety requirements established by the independent global certification company Underwriters Laboratory. UL testing assures that a product won't catch fire, will conduct electricity properly and can withstand weather. Without such testing no one is certain if the solar panels may fail. Additionally, without safety testing, they shouldn't be connected to the electric grid—which leaves customers nervous about possible risks such as overheating. Other reports claim that BlueChip inflated the efficiency rates of the photovoltaic panels which do not meet the 65 percent the company advertised. In July 2013, BlueChip's assets were sold off at pennies on the dollars and customers were left with rooftop solar packages that now have no warranty. (2)
Solar panels covering a warehouse roof in Los Angeles were only two years into their expected 25-year life span when they began to fail. Worldwide, solar power adopters are reporting similar problems and the $77 billion solar industry is facing a quality crisis reports, Doug Hoffman. (3)
In Arizona, The Arizona Corporation Committee—the state's top utility regulator has been getting complaints from Tucson customers of SolarCity Corporation. They claim, “The solar leasing company is misleading them regarding the state rules for hooking up a solar array.” In essence, customers in Tucson are being told one thing by their utility, Tucson Electric Power, but something else by a private power company. (2)
Firefighters across the nation are alarmed at the prospect of battling blazes in buildings topped with solar panels, which can create risks of roofs collapsing, an inability to gain footing and even potential electric shock. A
Fox News story on the risk solar panels pose to fire-fighters states, “Two recent fires involving structures decked with solar panels have triggered complaints from fire chiefs and calls for new codes and regulations that reflect the dangers posed by the clean-energy devices. A two-alarm fire in March 2014 at a home in Piedmont, CA, prompted Piedmont Fire Chief Warren McLaren to say the technology 'absolutely' made it harder on firefighters. Weeks earlier, in Delanco, NJ, more than 7,000 solar panels on the roof of a massive 300,000 square foot warehouse factored into Delanco's Fire Chief Ron Holt's refusal to send his fighters onto the roof of a Dietz & Watson facility.” (4)
As mentioned earlier, it's not just the US that's experiencing these problems. The German solar monitoring firm Meteocontrol, found that 80 percent of the 30,000 solar installations it reviewed in Europe were underperforming. Enertis Solar tested solar panels from 6 manufacturers at two power plants in Spain and found rates of malfunctioning as high as 34.5 percent. An inspection of solar plants in Britain found that 12 percent of its Chinese modules failed. In the United States, an American solar manufacturer, First Solar, budgeted $271.2 million to replace defective modules it manufactured in 2008 and 2009. (5)
On the plus side, not all solar manufacturers are having problems. For example, the US subsidiary of the Chinese solar manufacturing firm Yingli is supplying solar panels for a power plant in California, touting that the company does not cut corners and its statistics seem to prove it. Since 2009, 2.8 million modules had been shipped to the United States with only 15 modules being returned as defective. Yingli is the world's largest solar panel manufacturer. (5)
Yet all the negatives taken together give lie to the claim that solar power is mature and competitive. If 25 years are needed to break even, cells that fail in 2-5 years, means solar will never be economically viable. Add the industry secrecy surrounding the low quality of their product and as Doug Hoffman says, “This goes from being a lie to being a scam.” (3)
References
1. James M. Taylor, “Tampa's rooftop solar panels fail to meet promises,”
Environment & Climate News, 17, 6, September 2014
2. Marita Noon, “Scams, fraud, flourish in solar still,” finance.townhall.com, March 30, 2014
3. Doug L. Hoffman, “Solar power failing world wide,”
The Resilient Earth, June 9, 2013
4. Joshua Rhett Miller, “Firefighters alarmed by latest rescue risk: solar panels,” foxnews.com, October 2, 2013
