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As terrible as the human cost would be if Iran and the other Gulf states were to target each others' solar plants, it would be contained to tha region. India, a

As terrible as the human cost would be if Iran and the other Gulf states were to target each others' solar plants, it would be contained to tha region. India, and China, and America, and Africa, and Europe's PV would continue to generate electricity. Compared to what we have now, where a war in one part of the world makes energy expensive everywhere else. Not to mention: PV generation is way more distributed than drilling oil and gas. Commercial PV generation facilities are smaller and more spread out. And even if the enemy bombs them all in a war, you can disconnect your rooftop solar panels from the grid and keep your house going. Do you have an oil well and refinery in your backyard? I'll repeat it again: you don't burn solar panels to make energy. We need growing numbers of panels today because we're going solar. If the world were already at 100% solar then we wouldn't need nearly as much manufacturing or mining. We'd mostly just recycle old panels. This is unlike fossil fuels. If you burn gas you will always need new gas. Forever.

asdff 7mo ago
>Do you have an oil well and refinery in your backyard? Well, in the context of the US, we certainly do. And yet, our prices go up, because of course they would. In every domestic produced industry prices would go up if global supply were diminished. This is just how a globalized economy works. People assume a degree of economic isolation with solar that just isn't realistic with how the economy is structured today. It might have been realistic 100 years ago but today it is not.
- triceratops 7mo ago
  I meant in your literal backyard. And you bring up an excellent point with the globalized economy. Solar plants being bombed in a faraway country's war won't drive up the cost of your electricity because (most of the time) your electricity can't be exported. But oil can. If oil becomes expensive outside America, it becomes expensive within America. Even if America has its own oil.
  - asdff 7mo ago
    What do you think the response will be if the supply chain can't source replacement parts? the grid is damaged every year from storms and wind in addition to routine replacement of parts and end of life replacement. Typically we've seen power companies when they say are handsomely fined for causing a wildfire and having to pay out repair and legal fees that they just raise rates for that behavior, rather than shouldering the consumer from some blow out of the goodness of their heart.
    - triceratops 7mo ago
      > What do you think the response will be if the supply chain can't source replacement parts? No idea what we're even talking about now. We went from "solar panels are an intolerable supply chain dependency" to "well the grid needs new transformers and power lines too" as a reason to not switch to solar. Grids will need new transformers and power lines if they're powered by coal too. Do you want to go full dieselpunk or steampunk? Or live in caves wearing animal hides?

asdff 7mo ago

>Do you have an oil well and refinery in your backyard? Well, in the context of the US, we certainly do. And yet, our prices go up, because of course they would. In every domestic produced industry prices would go up if global supply were diminished. This is just how a globalized economy works. People assume a degree of economic isolation with solar that just isn't realistic with how the economy is structured today. It might have been realistic 100 years ago but today it is not.

triceratops 7mo ago
I meant in your literal backyard. And you bring up an excellent point with the globalized economy. Solar plants being bombed in a faraway country's war won't drive up the cost of your electricity because (most of the time) your electricity can't be exported. But oil can. If oil becomes expensive outside America, it becomes expensive within America. Even if America has its own oil.
- asdff 7mo ago
  What do you think the response will be if the supply chain can't source replacement parts? the grid is damaged every year from storms and wind in addition to routine replacement of parts and end of life replacement. Typically we've seen power companies when they say are handsomely fined for causing a wildfire and having to pay out repair and legal fees that they just raise rates for that behavior, rather than shouldering the consumer from some blow out of the goodness of their heart.
  - triceratops 7mo ago
    > What do you think the response will be if the supply chain can't source replacement parts? No idea what we're even talking about now. We went from "solar panels are an intolerable supply chain dependency" to "well the grid needs new transformers and power lines too" as a reason to not switch to solar. Grids will need new transformers and power lines if they're powered by coal too. Do you want to go full dieselpunk or steampunk? Or live in caves wearing animal hides?