I recently posted a scenario on my Facebook group, We Are Americans First. If you had $1,000,000,000,000 (yeah, with a "T") to spend on the country, what would you do with it? You can refill coffers, "Stimulate", hire, fire, whatever... But you have to spend it on the country... not yourself (sorry, you're not in Congress, yet). Below is my proposed answer.
Please feel free to poke holes in my idea or to post your own ideas.
My Trillion Dollar Answer
First we get in bed (financially of course) with a company like Nanosolar out of Germany. Of course a US-based company would be better but Nanosolar is leading the way with solar technology. Now I don’t know how much it would cost to build a factory in the US but I am going to estimate what I feel will be way too high of a price. Let’s say $10 billion to get them over here, get a factory tooled up (they will require clean rooms), and hire a bunch of hard working Americans. We would guarantee Nanosolar that we would buy panels as fast as they can make them (current rate in Germany is a panel every 10 seconds) assuming they maintain a high degree of quality. $990 billion left.
Second, same scenario with a battery company (batteries are a part of solar power). I think we can go MUCH lower on the cost of a battery plant, so let’s go astronomically high and say $1 billion. Same deal, you make ‘em, we buy ‘em. $889 billion left.
Now comes the fun part…
We start installing solar panels on homes across America. It would be voluntary of course, but I think we’d find there would be a waiting list. The rules are simple, you get free solar power for your home. You will NOT get paid if you produce more than you use (which you should, and I’ll show that later) and you will continue to pay $25 per month to the power company. You must allow excess power back into the grid. Businesses and schools that can accommodate panels are allowed to get them as well.
Each system installed on a residence/building would be designed around that structure’s current power requirements. For instance a 3kW (kilowatt) household would get a 3.5kW system to ensure over production. Now the current estimates to manufacture a panel capable of producing 1 watt of solar energy is between $1 and $2.50. So that 3kW house would cost (at current rates) between $3,000 and $7,500. That’s strictly production; to buy that system and have it installed is about $30,000 at the current rate. For the sake of argument, let’s say it costs $2 per watt for us to make panels. Let’s be generous and give the company a 25% profit, so we pay $2.50 per watt. $8,750 for the panels (don’t forget the extra .5kW per household) + $3,250 for incidental costs and installation gives us a $12,000 cost for a slightly above average sized home. Honestly, I feel that a 25% profit is a bit high and the installation would be cheaper, but let’s estimate high just to be safe.
We could (at the prices I used) provide solar panels for over 74 MILLION households… or in other terms produce over a quarter of a BILLION KILOwatts annually once all panels are in place, and I feel I have overestimated EVERY cost.
The beauty of the plan is this, the excess power produced would go into the grid to augment sky scrapers, government facilities, hospitals, apartment buildings, and homes that cannot accommodate panels. No jobs would be lost by the power companies, because the current power grids would be needed to allow power sharing, plus the power company would still need to produce power from time to time due to weather.
The benefits?
1. A new government agency would NOT be required to do this
2. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of potential long-term jobs (remember, production, shipping, handling, installation, maintenance… it adds up) increasing tax revenue and reducing the cost for government subsidies
3. Property values go up
4. Companies reduce overhead for products and services creating potential saving
5. Money saved on power bills could be saved or spent (with spent money bolstering the economy, creating jobs, and increasing tax revenue)
6. Slightly increased home owner’s and property insurance would funnel money into the banking system
7. Reduced dependency on fossil fuels
8. A MUCH greener country
9. All of that money that Nanosolar (or whoever it is we hire) is making could go towards developing more efficient, longer lasting solar and renewable technologies.
Looks like I may have found a single solution for many of DC’s issues with a substantially lower price tag than they have spent in the past four months. Now comes the hard part, finding Americans who are willing to get off their butts and WORK for a living. My tool belt is ready…
My Trillion Dollar Answer
First we get in bed (financially of course) with a company like Nanosolar out of Germany. Of course a US-based company would be better but Nanosolar is leading the way with solar technology. Now I don’t know how much it would cost to build a factory in the US but I am going to estimate what I feel will be way too high of a price. Let’s say $10 billion to get them over here, get a factory tooled up (they will require clean rooms), and hire a bunch of hard working Americans. We would guarantee Nanosolar that we would buy panels as fast as they can make them (current rate in Germany is a panel every 10 seconds) assuming they maintain a high degree of quality. $990 billion left.
Second, same scenario with a battery company (batteries are a part of solar power). I think we can go MUCH lower on the cost of a battery plant, so let’s go astronomically high and say $1 billion. Same deal, you make ‘em, we buy ‘em. $889 billion left.
Now comes the fun part…
We start installing solar panels on homes across America. It would be voluntary of course, but I think we’d find there would be a waiting list. The rules are simple, you get free solar power for your home. You will NOT get paid if you produce more than you use (which you should, and I’ll show that later) and you will continue to pay $25 per month to the power company. You must allow excess power back into the grid. Businesses and schools that can accommodate panels are allowed to get them as well.
Each system installed on a residence/building would be designed around that structure’s current power requirements. For instance a 3kW (kilowatt) household would get a 3.5kW system to ensure over production. Now the current estimates to manufacture a panel capable of producing 1 watt of solar energy is between $1 and $2.50. So that 3kW house would cost (at current rates) between $3,000 and $7,500. That’s strictly production; to buy that system and have it installed is about $30,000 at the current rate. For the sake of argument, let’s say it costs $2 per watt for us to make panels. Let’s be generous and give the company a 25% profit, so we pay $2.50 per watt. $8,750 for the panels (don’t forget the extra .5kW per household) + $3,250 for incidental costs and installation gives us a $12,000 cost for a slightly above average sized home. Honestly, I feel that a 25% profit is a bit high and the installation would be cheaper, but let’s estimate high just to be safe.
We could (at the prices I used) provide solar panels for over 74 MILLION households… or in other terms produce over a quarter of a BILLION KILOwatts annually once all panels are in place, and I feel I have overestimated EVERY cost.
The beauty of the plan is this, the excess power produced would go into the grid to augment sky scrapers, government facilities, hospitals, apartment buildings, and homes that cannot accommodate panels. No jobs would be lost by the power companies, because the current power grids would be needed to allow power sharing, plus the power company would still need to produce power from time to time due to weather.
The benefits?
1. A new government agency would NOT be required to do this
2. Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of potential long-term jobs (remember, production, shipping, handling, installation, maintenance… it adds up) increasing tax revenue and reducing the cost for government subsidies
3. Property values go up
4. Companies reduce overhead for products and services creating potential saving
5. Money saved on power bills could be saved or spent (with spent money bolstering the economy, creating jobs, and increasing tax revenue)
6. Slightly increased home owner’s and property insurance would funnel money into the banking system
7. Reduced dependency on fossil fuels
8. A MUCH greener country
9. All of that money that Nanosolar (or whoever it is we hire) is making could go towards developing more efficient, longer lasting solar and renewable technologies.
Looks like I may have found a single solution for many of DC’s issues with a substantially lower price tag than they have spent in the past four months. Now comes the hard part, finding Americans who are willing to get off their butts and WORK for a living. My tool belt is ready…
Holy cow, I just reread this! I have $100 billion left over due to bad math! I accidentally earmarked $101 billion on the $1 billion battery plant, and the rest of my numbers were based on that error.
ReplyDelete$100 billion left over. Party at my place!
nice
ReplyDelete