Nuclear power is one hell of a way to boil water!

 – A. Einstein

Smilin' Joe Photon here to talk about Solar Energy.  Now you might have heard all sorts of scary things about SE: it relies on a gigantic fusion reactor a mere AU away that could explode and destroy our planet in about 4 hours; it's plagued by radiation that can burn your skin in minutes; it's very expensive and inefficient relative to sweet, clean nuclear fission power.  I'd like to correct the record on that last one.

Indeed, solar has typically been more costly per kWh than pretty much every other energy source (here and here), installation costs have dropped around 30% in the last decade.  In fact, much likewind, solar appears to have reached a crossover point as PV and other components have seen prices drop whilst new nuke costs have increased.

As we achieve economies of scale, costs will come down more.  As we make more technical advancements that improve conversion efficiency and lower manufacturing expense, costs will come down more.

We're already seeing steady progress in the industry.  For example, the 1MW Ferrisburgh Solar Farm in Vermont started with a plan to install 5200 solar panels, but when it came online 10 months later it only required 3800.  According to the project manager, the FSF cost $5M, bring it in at a cool $5000/kW, which compares quite favorably to a new nuke plant's $5500-8000/kW (here, here, and here).

Imagine if we took the $100-200B in subsidies the nuclear energy industry has gotten since its inception (here, here, here, and here) and spent aggressively on developing solar and other sustainable energy infrastructure.  Why, in 10-20 years we could meet 50-100% of Vermont's electricty needs from renewables (here and here), far exceeding the 1/3 that Vermont Yankee currently provides (here and here)!

asd

ntodd

PS–Of course, don't underestimate increasing efficiency on the consumption side of the equation (here, here, and here).

PPS–For more information on nukes, please see Our Friend the Atom and Nuclear Energy: Our Misunderstood Friend.