Governments are still providing subsidies for solar energy technologies, but there are beginning to be some bumps in the road for these technologies. Spain, which has long been a renewable energy advocate with the first mandates for renewable production and high levels of subsidies, is now taxing owners of rooftop solar panels to pay for its huge debt to power producers resulting from the country’s regulations and renewable energy subsidization. But the issue goes further. Owners of rooftop solar panels are using the electric grid when they sell excess electricity, but are not paying for that service. In the United States, electric utility companies are proposing alternatives to remedy the problem. Also, some U.S. homeowners who have elected to add solar panels are astounded by the level of state and federal government subsidization, which cannot be entirely recouped, and questioning the sanity of the programs that cannot generate enough electricity to cover their costs.
