Letters to the Editor
-
Whether 600 or 6000 square miles...
Let's suppose an average roof top is 1000 square feet. If we need 600 square miles of solar panels, that's 16.7 million roofs covered with panels. If it's 6000 square miles, then we need 167 million roofs.
I'm sure there are 16.7 million roofs in this country that get a lot of full sun. Whether they can provide us with 10% or 100% of our electricity needs, it is just plain dumb to let those roofs sit there not providing us with energy.
What should be undertaken is a program on a national scale similar to the city of Berkeley's. My understanding is that they provide homeowners with the capital to install a solar system, and bill you over the years with an add-on to your property tax bill. It becomes a total no-brainer to take advantage of this: your electricity bill goes way, way down, and you use the savings over 10 years or whatever to pay the increased taxes - and when it's paid off, you just get the free electricity.
Imagine doing this on a national scale, with the federal government providing billions to individuals AND businesses to install solar collectors, to be paid off with increased taxes over a few years. Imagine how the huge influx of cash to the solar industry would spur innovation. Imagine how many coal-burning power plants we could shut down.