> Batteries are not cheap, nor renewable Batteries are MUCH cheaper and their prices are declining. Especially at grid scale. There are MANY ways to store ene

> Batteries are not cheap, nor renewable Batteries are MUCH cheaper and their prices are declining. Especially at grid scale. There are MANY ways to store energy surplus, we're not at that stage yet but we will get there. Batteries can be recycled. Again, especially at grid scale. Since they contain renewable energy for later use I'll call them WAY more renewable than gas/oil/coal. > A society based on only solar No one said that. > Solar only works under ideal conditions This is untrue. There are two types of solar, photovoltaic which is what most of us talk about works even under cloud coverage. No, it won't get 100% efficiency but it will give you energy during the day. Couple that with the fact that wind is stronger during those seasons and that there are other sources of renewables and you will get a more even picture across seasons. > At some point, people run out of land to put panels on Right now most deployments are conventional and we still have plenty of land. Unlike regular energy factories we can place panels above every single interstate. Many crop fields and keep the crops which actually grow better and improve electric generation... Every building, every parking lot and right in the middle of the city. Unlike other means of electric generation this can be deployed everywhere. The main things stopping us from doing it are time, costs and incentives. Governments regulate roads and can provide financial incentives, they stopped so the costs aren't as great. But with the continued drop in price of panels I'm sure we'll see a lot more of that. > A lot of the cheap manufacturing is centered in one or two countries This is just weird. I have no idea what you're claiming here. That if China decides to stop selling or raise the price of panels it will be a problem? Do you know who controls Uranium? Oil? Nice thing is that these are "renewable. Once installed we don't need to worry about China for 25+ years... > Transmission/distribution/management This is the one correct point here... But not really. Right now coal/gas plants need to be far from the city center so transmission is expensive. You don't want to breath that in. So should nuclear, you REALLY don't want that near your building. You can have a solar roof right above your head. The road leading into your city can be solar. Batteries can be stored right outside the city and save the cost of transmitting... They can be underground which further saves on real-estate. A smart grid can take advantage of all of that. The problem is that the grid is also very out of date and not interconnected enough to trade surplus. This is something that governments need to fix. Even between countries e.g. northern states should sell surplus to Canada and vice versa. I'm for the free market here. The free market needs an infrastructure to work on. Since solar and wind are some of the cheapest options around, once the grid is properly open and modern, the market will take care of everything. Obviously, that's a huge investment but it will make energy cheaper and cleaner for everyone.