Many Facets and Expertise of Murthy: Biggest Solar Mistakes

Biggest Solar Mistakes

KRS Murthy

Biggest mistakes have been committed in many technologies, industries and projects in many countries and continents. Solar, the particular way big multi billion dollar contracts are issued by governments for all the wrong reasons to the most undeserving companies is not just a joke on encouraging incompetence, and especially also as the favoritism is always political and not technocracy nor meritocracy.

Look at the coverage by reporters of NY Times, who probably are neither technically qualified, nor objective. Just being able to write in English does not qualify these writers to get such high profile jobs in famous publications.

Why do they not take the advice of real experts? Probably because they just don't care. They media executives, do not seem to know the disservice they are doing to the readers / viewers and the nation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/business/energy-environment/a-big-solar-plant-opens-facing-doubts-about-its-future.html?ref=energy-environment

The basic problems with the technology referred to in the article:

The mirror arrays based technology is very old, nothing new about it
The efficiency per acre or per square mile is very poor.
Cost per Mega Watt Installed is very high
Cost per Mega Watt Hour of electricity produced is very high
Operations and maintenance is very high
Mirror tracking costs are ridiculously high
Storage is another big issue.
Similar installations have been done and later torn down in not only Mojave desert, but also in Spain and other locations, as it was realized not to be economical.
These contracts are given to reward election campaign donors in USA
Similar issues of bribes to elected officials in India
Even China has done similar mistakes.
Lesson: Meritocracy in the dictionary should be titled under "Joke" category, true for all parts of the world.