Australia has so much solar that it’s offering everyone free electricity
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Anonymous
And before anyone says it’s easy for Australia to do because of bla bla and bla: 32% of Australia’s population was born overseas so it is not homogenous, the US is a wealthier country with $80,000 GDP per capita vs Australia’s $71,000, and Australia has 15% of the world’s coal reserves so it definitely has other choices. |
Anonymous
Panels made of toxic materials and REM’s mined by slaves and children. That’s the answer? And when they’re worn out in 20-30 years, they’re $$$$$$$$ to safely recycle because of the hazmats. This is the solution? |
Anonymous
Wrong on so many points. 1. Solar panels are not made of exotic toxic cocktails or “slave-mined” rare earth minerals. Mainstream solar panels (over 95% of global production) are made of sand-derived silicon, aluminum frames, tempered glass, and small amounts of common metals (silver, copper). Rare earth elements (REEs are different from “rare minerals”) are not used in standard silicon solar panels. Thin-film panels use trace amounts of materials like cadmium telluride, but they are encapsulated and stable, not freely floating toxins. The “slaves and children” claim is usually borrowed from cobalt mining narratives, but cobalt is used in some batteries, not in solar panels. The solar panel supply chain is well-documented and far less tied to conflict mining than fossil fuels. 2. Fossil fuel extraction is massively more toxic, destructive, and dangerous than solar manufacturing. Oil and gas extraction releases benzene, methane, VOCs, radioactive brine, pipeline spills, refinery pollution, and thousands of premature deaths annually. Coal ash ponds and oil spills dwarf the hazard profile of the solar industry by orders of magnitude. Solar manufacturing has environmental impact, but fractional compared to the continuous toxic output of burning fossil fuels every single day. 3. Solar panel recycling is improving rapidly, and even today it is not "$$$$$$$$" to recycle. Solar panels last 30–40+ years in real-world use, not 20. They are mostly glass and aluminum, which are cheap to recycle. Advanced recycling facilities (US, EU, Japan) recover: 95%+ of glass 99% of metals As panel volume grows, recycling becomes even cheaper (just like metals or e-waste did). Right now, many old panels are actually re-sold on secondary markets, not landfilled. 4. Solar already produces the cheapest power on Earth with the lowest environmental impact per kWh. Solar has the lowest lifecycle emissions of any energy source, even lower than nuclear and wind. Panels pay back their manufacturing energy in 1–2 years and then deliver 30–40 years of clean power. Fossil fuels never pay back; they pollute more the longer you use them. 5. If "toxicity" is your concern, fossil fuels are the last thing you can defend. Solar panels have: No combustion No particulate pollution No continuous toxic byproducts No tailpipe emissions No spills, fracking contamination, or refinery carcinogens Fossil fuels have all of those, continuously. Bottom Line: Solar panels aren’t made of rare earths, aren’t dependent on child labor, aren’t toxic time bombs, and aren’t hard to recycle. They’re mostly glass, aluminum, and silicon, and they replace the most harmful industrial system humans have ever created. The “solar panels are toxic and un-recyclable” meme is simply fossil fuel propaganda, not based in science or fact. |
Anonymous
| If solar is so cheap, stop the subsidies and mandates. |
Anonymous
How about we reduce the tariffs and taxes on solar in the US? Solar in the US is 2-3 times more expensive vs Australia, EU, etc and it is still cheaper vs NG, Coal, Nuclear, etc.
https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2025/07/01/solar-cost-of-electricity-beats-lowest-cost-fossil-fuel-even-without-tax-credits/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wind-and-solar-energy-are-cheaper-than-electricity-from-fossil-fuel-plants/ If only the socialist Trump republican government would allow the free market to do its thing. |
Anonymous
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/24/solar-wind-renewable-trump-tariff-utility-tax-credit-itc-ptc-obbb-electricity-price.html Why do we have to pay higher prices? This is idiotic. Without solar, wind and batteries everyone’s electricity bill will double…well except for the data centers. They will pay 50% less because of bribes and pay out to republicans. |
Anonymous
| Places that push for more solar and wind have higher energy bills. Maryland, New Jersey, the entire RGGI, California. |
Anonymous
This is such a stupid argument. Any electricity source will mar natural beauty. You want coal mines instead? |
Anonymous
Dear Leader is actively sabotaging projects, can we stop that? Can we scrap the fossil fuel subsidies too? And the fossil fuel payoffs to your dear MAGA politicians? Solar is the future—the sun is an unlimited source of free energy, if MAGA could stop yearning to work in coal mines and live next to refineries, maybe the US won’t be dead last in the race. |
Anonymous
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To get rid of solar and wind grid power plants the US would have to build 200 1 GW fossil fuel or nuclear plants to maintain current levels of electricity generation. This is just for grid power solar and wind. The removal of residential solar would require another 50 1 GW plants.
All these new fossil fuel and nuclear plants would have to be built very quickly just to replace existing power. The demand for electricity is projected to growth at 3% a year compounded annually. This would require an addition to the 530 1 GW fossil fuel or nuclear plants over ten years. Removing solar and wind will require 78 1 GW fossil fuel and or nuclear plants to be built each year starting next year. The US built 11 0.5 GW natural gas power plants in 2023 that generate 5.6 GW. No coal or nuclear plants were built. You will have to build out the natural gas infrastructure and increase demand for natural gas will increase prices a lot. Natural gas is already one of the most expensive sources for generating electricity. This would dramatically increase electricity cost. The US does not have the capability to build that many plants and the infrastructure needs. It takes 2-7 years to build a natural gas power plants, 9-18 months for a solar array, 1-2 year on shore wind, 2-4 off shore wind and 6-8 years nuclear. These are just construction times for 1 GW plant. Does not include permitting, plans, etc. Now how long will Trump and republicans stay in power? Once they are out and market forces are allowed to act freely this insanity will stop. You will have a lot of stranded assets. This does not include grid battery storage. I am assuming that is off the table also? Grid level battery storage was 26 GW in 2024 with an additional 20 GW being added in 2025. These systems capture the surplus electricity generated by solar, wind, fossil fuels(mostly coal) and nuclear. It is estimated 10% of the US power generation is unused or about 100 GW. |
Anonymous
| The only reason they are pushing NG is because demand is falling. Many people think the US has over built NG and LNG capacity. The industry lobbyist are pushing NG plants. It keeps them in the money! |
Anonymous
Nope not true. Solar and wind cost less and their price increase. Electricity prices have gone up because of surging demand from data centers and rising prices of natural gas. Natural gas year to date is up 21%. You have been told this before. |
Anonymous
The fossil fuel propagandists are pure cringe, and should just go off and crawl down into a coal mine and seal themselves away from the rest of us. |
Anonymous
No matter how many times you say it, the actual electricity bills tell a different story. 11-15 cents per kilowatt-hour Idaho. North Dakota, Nebraska, Louisiana, Utah, Washington, Arkansas, Oklahoma. Montana, Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, South Dakota, Nevada Mississippi, Wyoming, North Carolina, Kansas, South Carolina Florida, Oregon, Virginia, New Mexico, Georgia 15-16 cents West Virginia, Colorado, Arizona, Indiana, Texas, Minnesota 16-17 cents Illinois, Alabama, Ohio, Delaware 17-19 cents Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Maryland, District of Columbia 19-24 cents Michigan, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York 25 Alaska 26.4 Maine 26.6 Massachusetts 28 Rhode Island 30.5 Connecticut 30.6 California 41.8 Hawaii |
Anonymous
Now break it down by source generation! |