Energy in the News

Letter: 

Your July 24 article "Energy bill moves ahead" presents a flawed analysis of solar energy technologies.

Unlike the burning of biomass fuels, which do require emission controls to ensure good air quality, solar electricity and solar thermal energy systems convert sunlight into useful energy without harmful emissions. Solar photovoltaic and solar hot water systems are reliable and have expected useful lifetimes of 25 years or more.

With today's federal and state solar income tax credits, a company like Duke Energy can use its tax liabilities to buy down the capital costs of solar energy systems that it owns and operates by approximately 80 percent. This results in a 25-year levelized cost of solar energy of approximately 4 cents per kWh for electricity and about 1 cent per kWh for solar hot water energy with North Carolina solar resources.

The potential for deploying cost- effective solar energy systems in North Carolina is great, and the renewable energy bill deserves the support of everyone who desires our electric utilities to finally pursue a clean and sustainable energy future and to close environmentally damaging coal power plants!

Thomas Henkel, Ph.D

Chapel Hill