R.I.P., Texas Oil – Here Comes the Sun

Wired Magazine has a story on the rise of Solar Energy in Texas. Favorite quote:

“A minute’s work on the back of an envelope suggests that Austin’s plan is a daring long shot. So far, solar satisfies a whopping 0.1 percent of the nation’s energy requirement. It costs five times as much as fossil fuels – though it cost 50 times as much in the 1970s, so the trend line looks good. The silicon needed for solar panels is expensive, though not necessarily for Austin, a town full of vacant chip fabs since the tech bubble burst. But even if the whole city were paved in solar panels, it would take a wondrously smart and nimble utility to shuffle the resulting energy to meet demand. And there’s a pressing need for a new business model. When a power company’s customers become its producers, too, who pays for maintenance? Who inspects what? Who do you sue?”