There is more profit in alternatives than I believe Kano is allowing but it will take a while to amortize the startup costs and once subsidies start they do tend to become entitlements, like in the oil industry. In the U.S. we have gotten a little better at agricultural subsidies with a sliding scale based on commodity prices, etc. and rolling a lot of the subsidy setasides into programs that don't go directly to farmers, but it is still awkward given the political dabbling on both sides that tend to muddy the waters as far as what is going where and to whom. I subsidize a number of startups and businesses on a small scale and gradually decrease the amount I invest or subsidize but that is a lot easier to do at my level than at the level of state and federal government, so I share many of the same concerns my more conservative brethren do and I think that is fairly common for many of the more moderate business owners across the country. Not all capitalists are arch conservatives. Kind of like red/blue states in the U.S-red states are not 100% conservative and blue states are not 100% liberal but that doesn't prevent any number of people from proceeding with their opinions on that basis.
Kano as usual is talking nonsense, here in Australia subsidies only cover buying the solar cells i.e. you can get a 1.5kW system for about $2000, it's gone up a little in recent days as the new government has played with the subsidies, but is roughly the same. I have one of these systems and I have in fact upgraded it to 2kW, this system is enough to offset pretty much my entire power bill. Australia (thanks to this subsidy) has one of the highest up takes of solar power in the world around 1 million homes with a system, in a country which only has a population of 25 million, the combined output of that much solar is the equivalent of many power stations that simply don't have to be built. Power companies like it as they simply have to pay the market rate for the power and have nothing to build or maintain to get it.
There is talk of them shrinking what they will pay back as cash fro excess, but that does no change the fact of the offset, if your system offsets your bill then it saves you (in my case) ~1200 a year i,e the cost of the system in just 2 years, so I don't really care if they shrink what they might pay me in actual profit.
The cost of solar has dropped so much in the last few years that even without a subsidy it could, at current power prices pay for itself in ~5 years, so deniers like Kano (from the U.S.) are as usual talking rot.
If you already have solar panels installed then check the terms of your agreement. In most cases you will receive a guaranteed payment for X number of years, or for as long as you have the solar panels. Any changes made by the government after you signed the agreement shouldn’t affect your payments, but do check the small print.
If you’re thinking about installing solar panels then make sure that the payments you receive are guaranteed regardless of what the government does.
A typical solar installation will pay for itself in five to ten years, thereafter it’s all profit. Get your installer to go through the figures with you, make sure you understand them and make sure they’re in writing as part of the agreement.
Solar and wind power do come in and out of fashion, but we will need new energy sources.
Once subsidies end so will wind and solar, there is just not any profit in it.
