Right on the heels of Tappergate, The New York Times comes out with a couple of articles exploring the economic benefits of fighting global warming. As is evident to anyone but a Taphole, the energy business is the largest business there ever is or was or will be, and therein lies not only enormous money-making opportunities but jobs, jobs, jobs. These things, we hear, are good for the economy.
So, take California, which decided to get serious about developing a solar industry. The state committed $3 billion in declining incentives over a 10-year period, and in return leveraged a lot more than that in private equity. Venture capitalists have put $625 million into California solar companies in 2007 alone. Manufacturers are feverishly commercializing new technologies, and if you can spell solar you can get a job out here.
So, how does an enterprising young state get a piece of that action? I'm glad you asked. Last Wednesday, in Denver, with Governor Ritter on hand, we released a report that we developed with the Center for American Progress titled "Developing State Photovoltaic Markets" (PDF). It's a blueprint for making a solar market work. The premise here is that the key to lowering solar's costs -- and generating good jobs while you are at it -- is creating markets. The folks at NREL have done a great job in developing the technology; photovoltaics work great. Government R&D efforts should be redoubled, but using policy to open markets will leverage orders of magnitude more in private equity and further accelerate solar's entry into the mainstream.
Secondly, without an extension of the federal investment tax credit, everything we are trying to do gets 30 percent harder -- and it's quite hard enough as it is, thank you very much. There's a great argument to be made for putting an extension in the financial stimulus package, as the Senate is currently considering. Congress, if you are reading this, won't you please consider a very easy action that will jumpstart the economy, fight global warming, and establish energy independence all at the same time? These things are popular with voters, we hear.
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Comments
View as Flat
WWAGD?! Posted 3:24 am
04 Feb 2008
It takes a lot of BS to make the flowers grow.
You know my opinion.
I don't believe in it...but if it makes people happy and gives them good jobs...then go ahead.
Restore the Kuomintang!
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sunflower Posted 3:44 am
04 Feb 2008
I agree with turd blossom
There is a quality difference between promoting pv and actually fostering a low-carbon economy.
There are well educated leaders of soft energy in Colorado. Please seek their advice on the economics of thermal dynamics.
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amazingdrx Posted 4:02 am
04 Feb 2008
23 cents per kwh for solar
Wisconsin Electric is paying 23 cents per kwh to it's customers who generate solar power for the grid.
That move and government orders to spur mass production, but not only mass production, mass production of the best technology. That is important. Just as the government chose to go with the Jeep in WW 2.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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Pangolin Posted 6:23 am
04 Feb 2008
Um, really?
If somebody could point me to some kind of link where a person otherwise unqualified might get into the solar field I might believe it. I have yet to find such a resource other than one-day, cash cow seminars.
The mythical "alternative energy jobs" are still few and far between enough that they go to people who already have an inside track. If there was an actual solar jobs program at a community college it would be mobbed. People hate the corporate slavery they are trapped in now.
Put the Carbon Back
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bookerly Posted 9:32 am
04 Feb 2008
Umm, Yeah
I agree with Pangolin, who is getting all these jobs? Are they going to the working poor? Do the companies practice affirmative action (for females and minorities)?
I saw articles about shortages of wind power technicians, but it seemed like all of the pictures were of white guys.
Is all of this activity going to occur only in the suburbs?
patrick in Beijing
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JohnMashey Posted 1:42 pm
04 Feb 2008
John Mashey
SolarCity, http://www.solarcity.com/ , does a lot of installations around here. I've talked to their CEO Lyndon Rive, who emphasized the importance of building and retaining a good workforce, and talked about how to do that.
Elon Musk is the chairman, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk .
Here's SolarCity's overall jobs page:
http://www.solarcity.com/tabid/71/Default.aspx
which includes various sales jobs.
Here's the jobs page for installers:
http://solarcity.com/Default.aspx?tabid=184
Here's the entry position:
PV Installer
This is a great position for construction workers, roofers, electricians who want to get started in the solar industry.
Required skills/experiences
* No specific PV experience required. However, knowledge of electrical installation, roofing, and general construction is required.
* Willing to be learn about PV solar electric systems installations
General Qualifications
* The below qualifications are required for all of the above positions
* Must have excellent customer relation skills
* Must be very organized, and be able to meet aggressive timelines
* Willing to do residential, commercial & service work
* Willing to work in extreme environments (hot sun, high places/roofs & crawl spaces).
* Be able to lift at least 100 pounds and not afraid of roof top heights
* Must have a clean valid drivers license
Benefits:
* Paid vacation.
* Medical, dental, and vision.
* Stock options
They were here doing a mass install in our (little) town:
http://www.solarcity.com/Default.aspx?tabid=200
I used to bump into their installers at the local deli, and talk to them, as there were usually several trucks' worth there at lunch every day for months, and talking to the real workers is always a great way to assess a company. I have no firsthand experience with their hiring practices.
In general, they were enthusiastic about the company and seemed to enjoy what they were doing. Of course, 6-8 people is hardly a large sample, and there were no women, although given the modest percentages in construction, that's unsurprising.
Most were Hispanic, of various skin shades, so if all such count as "white guys", that's what they were, if it matters to somebody.
The website shows recent installations, and residential installations are mostly in suburbs ... but what would one expect?
Houses in suburbs:
- usually have enough roof space/family to be useful, which tends to be less true for denser housing, although new (low) condo/apartment complexes are tending to get built with solar builtin, which is easier. In towns around here, single-family house's roofs are big enough to have a fighting chance to cover electricity bills, and maybe leave something for PHEV. Some people are building outright ZEHs.
- have higher rates of ownership versus rental, which makes it more likely that someone will buy,
- on the San Francisco Peninsula, even places called cities are really more like suburbs,
- and in this case, have a lot of fairly wealthy owners who are also early adopters and can afford the upfront capital costs. On the other hand, the least expensive area around here is East Palo Alto, and Clarum has built some ZEH's or near-ZEHs there with integrated PV, one of the things needed to get the prices down, along with volume and more efficient PV materials. There is also solar going in in less expensive places, in the East Bay and Central Valley.
Housing in real cities, with large vertical condo/apartment complexes, is nontrivial to retrofit, especially because it is difficult for an individual owner/renter to say "I want to go solar." Also, shadows are a problem for most current module designs. SunPower folks tell me that will improve in 1-2 years, or SolFocus' gear will work out. [Some of our roof has shadow problems from neighbor's trees, so I'm keen to see this get solved.]SolarCity and others are also doing government & commercial, which is a little easier in cities, as there is roof space, and less complexity with ownership issues.
Anyway, I make no claim that this area is anything like representative, but it's at least some real data.
-John Mashey
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amazingdrx Posted 3:26 pm
04 Feb 2008
Wow
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/technology/01solar.html ...
"SunPower, based in San Jose, said its stock price grew 251 percent in 2007, faster than any other Silicon Valley company, including Apple and Google."
Any stock touts catch this one? Great link John.
Stories like this one are what are going to make the renewable energy boom a reality. I can feel the greed building and the fear waning.
When panic sets in that investors are missing the next Cisco and MSFT, look out, it's a wave.
http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog
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bookerly Posted 8:09 am
05 Feb 2008
Jobs
Dear John,
Thanks for the anecdotal evidence!! I have nothing against any particular person getting the jobs (including white guys, I am one (smile)).
I framed the issue the way I did, because one of the promises on which spending to develop renewables is being sold is that of providing good new jobs.
Some of us care that these are spread around throughout the economy to people of all classes, colors and sexes.
patrick in Beijing
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JohnMashey Posted 2:48 pm
05 Feb 2008
Jobs
I don't have specific data, but it is actually quite plausible that many "good" new jobs will indeed be provided.
a) It is pretty clear that there is more funding to turn more green R into green D, which helps well-paid R&D people, a relatively small number.
There is expansion in new kinds of consulting jobs, and in "green-our-company" folks. I attended a conference recently, with 4 such folks on the panel, of which 3 were female (and very good).
b) It may help some manufacturing workers, given that a lot of higher-efficiency stuff needs to be built. Increasing costs of transport should unwind some of the worldwide JIT supply chains, which will move manufacturing around.
c) But, I think the main "green jobs" area people are talking about are the large number of construction-like jobs and support staff for them. Such jobs would seem to be more widely accessible to many people, as there is a fighting chance to enter them with relatively little formal education, and then move up with experience.
-John Mashey
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