One-degree dawns and Seattle days withstanding, Oxford is no Winterfell. Like lizards, we long for the chance to bask in the sunlight. Our swift spring and sultry summer will soon arrive, heating Mississippi like a crockpot roast. Our brows will sweat, our Banana Boat bottles will empty, and our AC units will run with the endurance of a Kenyan marathoner. Only a rare few Mississippians will be cooled by the hot rays.
Solar panels capture energy. Captured energy makes electricity. Electricity runs air conditioners. In meantime, solar energy can heat water, allowing Mississippians to soak up a longer hot shower. Like evergreen loblolly pines, sunlight can help propel us through the entire year.
So why do solar panels not dot Mississippi rooftops, giving passersby the same elation as a low-priced gasoline marker? Skepticism, timidity and money are good places to start.
Though I challenge anyone to contend that Mississippi’s bright sun lacks power, solar skeptics exist. I do not have data on Mississippian views of solar energy (project alert, project alert), but I will still address skepticism. Some people view all green endeavors as job-killing wastes of money. I will address that allegation later. Many people point to Solyndra’s failed photovoltaic experiment as final proof that solar energy projects will not work.
Sure, Solyndra’s bankruptcy stings. The Californian project had generous government support, but the company lost the wager due to falling silicon prices of traditional solar panels and Chinese competition. Americans pride themselves in market solutions. Remember, one company is not the entire industry. Perhaps the most pervasive negative assumption is that people assume the technology will never improve enough to work. Well, those people have already been proven wrong. According to the Earth Policy Institute, worldwide photovoltaic solar panels are experiencing exponential growth and produced 100,000 megawatts in 2012.
Gov. Bryant recently wrote a Politico article claiming that Mississippi’s bright spots were underappreciated. Mississippi was a state for businesses. A nascent automotive cluster was Bryant’s central quantifiable point. Well then, Mr. Governor, I will take your lead and assume that beyond sweet tea, Mississippi’s business climate — as in welcoming foreign companies to extract maximum profit from our state — is our number one asset.
Bryant stated in his 2012 State of the State address, “Mississippi is a leader in the energy economy: supporting and developing traditional sources of power … including tertiary oil recovery, natural gas and biomass. From nuclear plants to gas pipelines, our energy economy will drive Mississippi’s economic growth into the 21st century.”
With that in mind, why is Mississippi not thinking boldly but safely relying on traditional methods? Henry Ford and Detroit are so last century. Instead of modeling our economy after a tired business model, why do Mississippi leaders not try to lure green energy companies to the Magnolia State? We are so friendly to oil, gas, nuclear and coal energy. Let’s be hospitable to solar energy. Put all the sweat, strategy and hand-shaking used to get a rubber tire company to pledge Mississippi into making Jackson a manufacturing city for emerging photovoltaic technology. The U.S. should not concede solar energy to China and Germany. Instead, leaders should bring Californian tech clusters to the Mississippi business and wage climate. Quit being timid.
I bet you can guess the real reason Mississippi has an “F” ranking by SolarPowerRocks.com. Look to ABBA’s anthem “Money, Money, Money.” Solar energy is prohibitively expensive in this state. The reason is deliberate policy. Mississippi, and certainly Ole Miss, is highly committed to traditional energy sources, to the chagrin of solar energy-seeking individuals. Though Nissan and Toyota have every imaginable tax break, the hardworking, frugal Mississippian will receive no help by investing in cutting-edge solar technology. To pay back a 5-kilowatt solar investment in Mississippi, the investor must wait 15.2 years — another “F.” The state has no solar property tax exemption, no solar tax credits, a “D” rating on solar rebates, no net metering (allows you to sell excess electricity to power company) and, crucially, no state interconnection policy to allow solar panels to join the electricity grid. Additionally, Mississippi’s electricity is cheap because of high use of environmentally deleterious coal and gas, so profiting from solar — if one could — is extremely difficult. Remember, pollution is not included in electricity bills. We are given that dubious blessing free of charge.
Mississippi is blessed with solar energy. Sure, Arizona has more sun compared to our state; Mississippi has far more sun compared to, say, Britain. In the far northern isles of Scotland, Shetland ponies graze beside solar panels. If solar energy is viable at the same latitude as southern Greenland, you better believe solar can work in Mississippi. It is past time to turn the heat rays into clean, renewable, cold air conditioning.
Neal McMillin is a senior Southern studies major from Madison.
