[theluckycountry]

Solar Panels: Another Exercise in Magical Thinking

Printed Article:

I believe it’s high time that we put to rest the myth that solar panels are “sustainable”, “green” and “renewable” once and for all. They are none of this. Contrary to common sense, what photovoltaic panels generate is not electricity, but another round of “problems to solve”. Make no mistake, it is a fascinating technology, but there is a much better, simpler way to harness the power of the sun, one that doesn’t involve the pillaging of the entire planet.

Solar is the future, but not the way you are told.

I have to say, I’m baffled by the lack of technical understanding on display in the “renewables” and “electrification” space. Statistical data is thrown around about continuously improving EROEIs (Energy Return on Energy Invested) and falling costs like there is no tomorrow. These calculations, however, are based on a very-very limited understanding of how solar panels are manufactured, while completely dismissing a range of inputs essential for the creation of this magical technology.

I mean isn’t it magic, that you put a shiny black (or blue) slab of glass on your roof and it generates electricity out of thin air? After all we shouldn’t be surprised then, that now there are so many of them being installed in the hope of lowering electricity bills, that their continued deployment now threatens the very service they meant to make cheaper and more accessible. Apparently no one warned unsuspecting users that magic only works at small scale (usually in a sanctuary called a ‘lab’ and performed by magicians wearing white robes) and that a free lunch remains to be what it is: a pie in the sky.

Some reckoning is in due order.

So, let’s start with the basics, shall we? First, let’s take a look at what these solar panels are made of. Going by their weight, the product’s heaviest component is the protective glass cover and the aluminum framing holding it all together. The essence of the technology, where magic happens — the set of silicon wafers glued to the backside of the glass — actually weighs less than 10% of the total weight of a panel. Now you just need to add some wiring to conduct the electricity away from the panel and you are all set! (OK. Almost.)

Here is where things get tricky. The manufacturing (and not the assembly) of all of these components is what takes a brutal amount of energy. In order to be melted, glass for example, needs to be heated to somewhere between 1500 to 1700°C (2700–3100°F), a temperature range wholly outside electric resistance heating and way above readings from Fukushima’s molten reactor cores. In other words: something only achievable by burning fossil fuels (mostly natural gas) and hydrogen. (As to why hydrogen is not the best idea, read my earlier post on the topic.) Melting and pouring glass into sheets is also not something you do on an on-off basis: it is a 24/7 operation. An abrupt loss of heat can easily lead to glass ‘freezing’ into the furnace and the onto other parts of the equipment, making it impossible to remove by means other than using dynamite and jackhammers.

Then comes aluminum: it is somewhat easier to melt and work with — once you’ve got a clean slab to manufacture sheets from — but making pure aluminum from its ore (bauxite) takes 17 kWh of energy per each kilogram of metal. Again, this is not something you do in an intermittent mode. Smelting is a sustained operation, one that is so energy hungry that most smelters usually have their own coal fired power plants, literally next door.

The raw materials (sand for glass and bauxite for aluminum) themselves are not coming free of charge either, of course. Both of these need to be mined and shoveled onto trucks by huge diesel powered machinery (no, batteries and hydrogen won’t do it here either), then transported to a factory, where the above mentioned melting and smelting happens. Well, as usual, no oil means no mining (at scale), and thus no raw materials for those oh-so-shiny magic panels on your roof. (By the way, the same goes to the glue holding the panel together: it is made from petroleum, just like many other chemicals and all the plastics we use in the industry.)

Full Article:
https://thehonestsorcerer.medium.com/so ... 824c825844

[theluckycountry]

Bloated Solar Sector Amasses Huge Losses

But how? They are much cheaper than coal, or so kub told me.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')All top Chinese solar equipment producers had already booked losses for the first quarter of 2025, blaming the continued losses on low product prices and the trade and tariff turbulence under U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Chinese solar wafers, panels, switchers, and other equipment producers have been struggling on the domestic market amid overcapacity that China’s authorities moved to address only in late 2024. Earlier in 2024, the China Photovoltaic Industry Association said that China urgently needs consolidation in the solar manufacturing industry as overcapacity and price wars are leading local companies to a race to the bottom.

This summer, China’s authorities are stepping up efforts to address the overcapacity in China’s clean technology industries, which undermines the profitability of solar equipment manufacturers.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', 'S')un down to sun rise and the winter lower angle above the horizon.

[theluckycountry]

Hard Facts for Simple minds.

The American residential solar industry which was once a shining symbol of clean energy innovation, job creation, and technological promise now teeters on the edge of collapse.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he numbers are unambiguous and alarming. In 2024, residential solar installations fell by a staggering 31%. Industry leaders such as SunPower, Sunnova, and Mosaic Solar have tumbled into bankruptcy in quick succession, casualties not of technological failure, but of a system that failed to protect its own future. The most recent blow came in June 2025, when Sunnova Energy filed for Chapter 11 with $10 billion in debt, slashing over half its workforce in a last-ditch effort to survive.

This is not a routine market correction. It is the systematic dismantling of an industry that once employed hundreds of thousands of Americans, drove billions in domestic investment, and stood at the forefront of the country’s transition to a clean energy economy..

[theluckycountry]

Just stop looking for these ok.



And these!




And these Blue ones.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', 'S')un down to sun rise and the winter lower angle above the horizon.

[theluckycountry]

So let's revisit that website that was not for the faint hearted
https://www.solarinsure.com/the-complet ... s-closures



What's this? It's the interest rate rise that has been blamed for the collapse of Solar and Battcar and anything else you care to blame. But 5%? That's nothing. Historically it's actually quite low. So what can we deduce from this. That solar and Battcar and anything else you can imagine that uses a shit ton of oil and coal is simply not economically viable above Zero% interest rates

You can't spin it any other way folks, the only entities still going ahead with this are governments that can still find suckers to sell their bonds to and bubble-wave riders like Tesla covering it's factories in them. The people in the suburbs are simply priced out, and that is why the list of failed companies that were installing them across the USA is like 8 pages long. Everything aside from the peppers growing in your backyard is a result of cheap oil gas and coal, and the peppers too if you're using an inorganic fertilizer made from natural gas and mineral shipped halfway across the planet.

This is why we came here to peakoil.com in the first place, to learn about these oil dependencies and explore solutions/mitigations. I have found mine, and from the dribble I have read from most other posters, they can live in the dark in the coming years for all I care. The future doesn't belong to them anyway. Creatures of the Wheel

[theluckycountry]

Hey! Remember that meme about how we put up solar panels and forget about them for 30 years, by which time secret technologies beyond oil and coal will be making the replacements for nothing? Wrong Again.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '&')quot;Maintenance is required on every single solar system – past, present and future – there is no exception whatsoever," Lazarus said. "Whilst it was young, the focus was on construction – no one either had the time or the foresight or the data to focus on what these systems were going to do once they were installed," he said.

"You look back in hindsight and you say, well, these systems are outside for 24-hours a day and they’re generating electricity for 12-14 hours a day and wear-and-tear is inevitable." There may have been "naivety" about the extent of maintenance required but the "data points are coming in, thick and heavy" now, he said.

Missing panels or bolts, frayed wires, and other unnecessary faults or operational inefficiencies have snowballed into a $1.35 billion annual risk for large-scale solar installations, according to extrapolations from Industrias’ dataset of around 5,000 monitored devices.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('KaiserJeep', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', '-')snip-
Good. Get more panels. You're rich. And remember to buy plenty of batteries. I recommend molten-salt. They use them in space.

[theluckycountry]

So how does Large scale Solar farming ensure future electricity reliability? Hint, it doesn't.

Spain's Gas Demand Skyrockets After Major Blackout
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')panish gas demand for electricity production jumped by nearly 37% between January and September, as Spain relied on more gas-fired power generation to keep the grid stable after Europe’s worst blackout in modern history.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', 'H')ey! Remember that meme about how we put up solar panels and forget about them for 30 years, by which time secret technologies beyond oil and coal will be making the replacements for nothing?

[theluckycountry]

Germany leads Europe again in onshore wind
Germany leads the way in solar energy

German Economy Unravelling: Hospitality Crisis, Jobs Vanishing & Industrial Decline
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hile the federal government is desperately waiting for the start of the multi-billion euro debt package, the real economy is burrowing ever deeper into the ground. The numbers from the hospitality sector speak a clear language: things continue to go downhill.

On Monday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the six-day congress of the trade union IG BCE (Industrial Union for Mining, Chemicals, Energy). There he emphasised the high importance of social partnership between workers, employers and politics and assured the union that he was well aware of the increasingly difficult situation of many people in the country.

In these days Merz would have done better to visit the German hospitality industry. There, without the glamorous distraction of a functionary congress, he could have seen first-hand the reality of the German economy: The interest in uplifting speeches by the Chancellor among restaurateurs, hoteliers and caterers is likely vanishingly small — business is simply too bad.

[theluckycountry]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Q')ueensland will continue using coal-fired power for decades, as its new energy roadmap extends the life of some state-owned coal plants to at least 2046, prioritizing reliability and affordability over a rapid renewable transition. This plan includes building new gas-fired plants and investing in maintaining existing coal, gas, and hydro assets,

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Q')ueensland will continue using coal-fired power for decades, as its new energy roadmap extends the life of some state-owned coal plants to at least 2046, prioritizing reliability and affordability over a rapid renewable transition.

[careinke]

Trump's Solar policy is my biggest disappointment with him this term. Actually, I only voted for him once, after Brandon was elected and I finally became convinced the Deathocrats primary goal is the extinction of the Human Race. That said, I'd make the same choice today. He is way more entertaining than an autograph machine.

Fortunately, the private sector has picked up the gauntlet of solar power, the profit potential of solar is great. Plus, capitalism is always more profitable than government. Quite a few industries moving to the U.S. are providing their own power, without the grid, while still being able to add power to the present grid if needed.

98% of our Solar System mass is the Sun. 1% of the Solar System mass is Jupiter, the last 1% is basically dust and includes all the other planets, moons, asteroids, and other dust. Of course the earth can only use a little of the available energy, otherwise the earth would melt.

The world is beginning a new book of Sustainable Abundance and environmentally sound systems. I'm happy to witness it.

Peace

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('careinke', 'T')rump's Solar policy is my biggest disappointment with him this term. Actually, I only voted for him once, after Brandon was elected and I finally became convinced the Deathocrats primary goal is the extinction of the Human Race.

[theluckycountry]

Global Silver production
US - 4%
Australia - 15%

https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-publi ... k=yXsq89CW

Oh but the US makes cars!!! Yeah, at a loss, and we buy better ones, from all across the globe.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('theluckycountry', 'G')lobal Silver production
US - 4%
Australia - 15%

[theluckycountry]

27 million people, and a resource wealth far outstripping the US. Location Location Location.