So what’s the deal with brunch, why isn’t there a linner?

This post is actually about Solar Thermal, I just happened to be watching Seinfeld at the time. But seriously, what’s the deal with solar thermal? It seems like a renewable technology that never really got off the ground. Solar thermal panels look a lot like PV panels, but involve a direct heat transfer with fluid for uses like domestic hot water. Many economists agree that the market for solar PV is set to explode over the next 5 years, but hardly anyone is willing to place a bet on solar thermal. Will the technology become obsolete like the Laserdisc, or is there still room for solar thermal in the renewables discussion?

It’s not too difficult to figure out why solar thermal hasn’t taken off - the payback period is too long for the average customer to tolerate. The main reason for this is recent developments in hydraulic fracking efforts. As a society, we are fracking like the ship is going down. This is a vast energy source that analysts in the oil and gas industry couldn’t have accounted for, therefore any future projections about the cost of natural gas had to be thrown out the window. Like it or not, fracking is here to stay and will be part of the world’s energy portfolio. Natural gas prices are at all time lows, making it hard for renewables to compete as a solution for heating or domestic hot water.

As a result, the solar thermal industry experienced a slowdown and had difficulty attracting investment. Efficiency and tech advancements haven’t progressed; renewable R&D efforts have been thrown into enhancing PV equipment. Geothermal is also becoming a more attractive and cost-effective method to heat large amounts of water, and solar thermal will face competition in this space. Solar thermal installations make sense in some cases, like swimming pools, breweries, dairy farms or anywhere that uses a lot of hot water every day. But these projects are expensive and really not the best option for most situations, and there are potential maintenance issues that are not a problem for traditional HVAC systems.

So my interest in solar thermal is similar to that of brunch: it sounds good in concept, but it takes way too long and the payoff just isn’t there. Someone is always pitching brunch at the bar on Saturday night, like brunch will solve all the world’s problems. “Let’s go to brunch tomorrow! Let’s go to brunch tomorrow!” Your friend shouts with exuberance, and you accept thinking it will be different this time. Perhaps there won’t be a wait, maybe I won’t feel hungover in the morning, I’m sure I’ll be ready to interact with decent society by then. False. “The wait will be an hour.” Great, now I can sit uncomfortably on that little bench in-between the hipster and the yuppie not paying attention to her misbehaved kid. It’s really bright in here, I’m just going to put on my sunglasses inside. How did I get roped into this? By the promise of cinnamon rolls and mimosas? I should be setting my fantasy football lineup, riding my bike or just plain sleepin’ in. So over brunch…

If there was a linner, people would just find a way to ruin it anyway.