Solar panels don't make themselves.

I just read two articles about the making of solar panels. Besides the 7-10 different mines that you need to get just the basic building blocks to make the materials you need, the processes required for converting raw materials in to the compounds you need to make the panels involves so much energy (hi temp furnaces, etc.) and some of the most caustic and acidic chemicals to mfg. there is no freaking way that's sustainable of even close to being Green, ever!

What you saw in my meme above was more of me being shocked about that I didn't know all that was involved than any criticism of them. Green Energy is great as long as it's not forced upon people by saying the bullshit fear mongering of Al Gore, Obama and others! The only thing that makes it somewhat affordable is that the Government gives tax credits and other incentives to buy them!

I found this when I Googled something earlier today. It's obviously fan art, but Octavia is certainly not the easiest Pony to find, unlike the Pony attention w**res Rainbow Dash, Pinky poo poo, Applejack and the biggest ho of them all Twilight Sparkle! Lol. :) Laugh! It's a joke! :)

Evilmandoevil, Thanks for the comment! You are getting pretty "warm" in your search for understanding. Here's a clue: the cost (in $$$) of anything is a reasonably realistic way of estimating the amount of energy that was expended in making it, at least as a rough guide. Yes, of course part of the cost of anything physical represents labor, profit, and other "non-energy" expenses, but those costs are about the same for everything. The reason that solar PV power costs 10 times what fossil grid power costs is because it takes at least 8 times as much grid energy to make the PV modules than they will ever produce.

Your first statement is 100% correct, there is no such thing a "clean energy"! Bravo! Sadly, I must disagree with your second statement, as solar panels do NOT bring any benefits for the world as a whole. The transition to "renewable energy" that so many misinformed environmentalists envision cannot possibly happen, because solar modules do not ever make as much power as it took to manufacture them. The real "energy balance" of PV power is profoundly negative, anywhere from 8x to 40x, and all of that energy must come from existing power grids. Haven't you ever wondered why NO solar panel factories are powered by solar PV? If you don't believe me, will you believe Elon Musk? The quote is real, the article is real, please go read it:

“Sometimes the solar roof is positioned as sort of a competitor to utilities, but we’re actually going to need utility power to increase and we’re going to need local power generation. Because if you transition all energy to electric, that roughly triples the amount of electricity that is needed.” - Elon Musk
http://www.powermag.com/elon-musk-the-future-is-bright-for-utilities/

Evilmandoer, you got it! Don't forget to add in the fact that the three main ingredients need to reduce the raw mg-Si needed (the first of about 200 process steps) are coal, wood chips, and quartz rocks. Where coal is too expensive, charcoal (made from trees) is used, and at least some of that charcoal come from the slashing and burning of rain forests. So, the very first step in making "clean energy" from the sun is to dig up a lot of coal and rocks, chop down a lot of trees (including rainforest trees) and burn them all in a huge electric furnace that uses 30MW of fossil grid power. And that is the LEAST energy-intensive and pollution-generating of the next 199 steps.

I read somewhere that the footprint of any kind of solar plant or just panels is so great that its borders on ridiculous! Same with wind, the sun isn't out all day nor is it windy all the time. At best it's good for supplemental power for residential use. Have you ever seen those wind turbines? Who the f**k want to look at those ugly f**kers?

Because trees are solar panes, photosynthesis.

PizzaScience, You got it! Even if only 1% efficient, they are the most effective accumulator of accumulated solar energy (in carbon form) that there is.

They are the greenest to.

Bohnson, Thanks for the comment! Actually, solar panels DO grow on trees! About a third of the raw material that goes into reducing the mg-Si from rocks is wood chips, and another third is either coal or (In places where coal is not readily available) charcoal (which is made from wood). Some mg-Si manufacturers quote that they "cannot guarantee" that the charcoal they use does not come from burning virgin rainforest… because it does. google rainforest charcoal and see what you find.