Question: Doesn’t it take more energy to produce a solar panel than that panel will ever produce in its serviceable life? Elon: The idea that a photovoltaic (P

Question: Doesn’t it take more energy to produce a solar panel than that panel will ever produce in its serviceable life? Elon: The idea that a photovoltaic (PV) solar panel cannot pay back its energy investment is flat out wrong by a huge margin, but I've heard it repeated by many otherwise intelligent people. Martin: This reminds me of otherwise intelligent people who think of hydrogen as a fuel – who don’t realize that it takes lots more energy to create hydrogen gas and pressurize it than you could ever get out of it with a fuel cell (or any other way). Elon: Right. The analysis for photovoltaics is straightforward and has been done by disparate researchers around the world, with the payback results in recent studies varying only by a year or two. http://www.teslamotors.com/de_CH/node/3925 http://www.teslamotors.com/de_CH/node/3925