Price of solar falling precipitously -- the ironic silver lining of the "Solyndra solar scandal"

Amidst the "Solyndra solar scandal" (the Washington Post editorialized on November 18, 2011 that Solyndra is but the symptom of a diseased U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee program), U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) pointed out that Solyndra's bankruptcy has resulted from the dramatic decrease in price of solar power panels internationally -- a sign that solar power is growing by leaps and bounds around the world. DOE said as much itself on August 31, 2011 in its response to the Solyndra bankruptcy and loan guarantee default.  The Post article reported: 

"Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) charged that committee Republicans were focusing on Solyndra because fossil fuel industries were threatened by the possibility that solar and wind could become competitive with oil and coal.

'Republicans attacked solar energy because they say it’s too expensive,' Markey said. 'But Solyndra failed because the price of solar energy has become too cheap.' "

"Trade War in Solar Takes Shape"

The New York Times has reported on a U.S. solar panel manufacturing industry coalition effort to block Chinese solar panel "dumping" into the United States -- the latest sign that renewable solar energy is growing by leaps and bounds.

Offshore wind instead of 20 more years at Seabrook!

The Seacoast Online quotes Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter, and other environmental opponents to a 20 year license extension at Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant in New Hampshire, during a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission environmental scoping meeting. The environmental coalition has intervened against the incredibly premature license extension (NextEra, a.k.a. Florida Power and Light, has applied for a 20 year license extension 20 years early!) by documenting the offshore wind will very likely make Seabrook's operation from 2030 to 2050 not only increasingly risky, but also increasingly obsolete, unneeded, un-economic, and un-competitive.

Energy efficiency can yield 90 times more jobs than replacing one nuke

Solar PV panel production in Ohio alone enough to replace Davis-Besse's electrical output

Environmental coalition expert witness Al Compaan and solar PV panelIn an article entitled "Ohio ranked 2nd in U.S. in solar-panel output," the Toledo Blade has reported that by next year, Ohio manufacturers will be churning out 550 Megawatts-electric (MW-e) of solar photovoltaic panels. Beyond Nuclear, along with Citizens Environment Alliance of Southwestern Ontario, Don't Waste Michigan, and the Green Party of Ohio, have challenged the 20 year license extension sought by the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, contending that solar PV alone could displace the atomic reactor's electrical output of 908 MW by 2017, the year its original 40 year operating license expires. Emeritus professor of physics at the University of Toledo Al Compaan (pictured at left) -- the environmental coalition's expert witness in the proceeding -- testified earlier this year to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Atomic Safety (sic) and Licensing Board (ASLB) that simply covering FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse site, its Norton Compressed Air Energy Storage site, as well as the commercial rooftops in several northern Ohio cities, would be enough solar PV panels to entirely replace Davis-Besse. As the article indicates, Ohio's own production levels alone could readily meet that challenge.