This article originally appeared in the Sierra Vista Herald on March 28, 2015 Can gloom and doom be used to sell something as seemingly perky and positive as solar energy? Of course it can be, and it frequently is in Arizona, as solar companies try to scare potential customers into making hasty decisions on a rooftop solar purchase, lease or loan. At last, Arizona’s leaders are beginning to awaken to the dark side of Big Sun. If your friendly solar salesman promises to lock-in future electric bill increases at a fixed annual rate of 2.9 percent, for the duration of a 20-year rooftop solar lease, that might seem tempting, as compared to the 4.8 percent annual increases non-solar customers are likely to see in that same period. That nearly 2 percent difference represents a lot of potential savings over time. It’s one of the industry’s biggest selling points. But what if the salesman’s 4.8 percent prediction is way too high, based on historical trends? What if, confounding those predictions, future rate increases are significantly lower than the solar company estimates? That dramatically changes the equation. That makes the promised savings from such a system much harder to achieve.

New Report: Big Solar’s “House of Cards” Subsidy-Based Business Model Jeopardizes Taxpayers Washington, D.C.—The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) released a brand new report this week regarding the heavily-subsidized solar industry titled, A House of Cards: Solar Energy’s Subsidy-Based Business Model. TPA concludes that Big Solar’s heavy reliance on government handouts threatens taxpayers with another Solyndra. This report is another one in the series that measures the impact of government solar subsidies and preferential treatment on taxpayers and consumers. The renewable energy world was abuzz recently over news that the empty California office space once occupied by Solyndra, the most notorious of America’s green stimulus debacles, is now being leased by another rising star in the solar space, Elon Musk’s SolarCity. This was heralded in industry circles as long-sought redemption—as proof that Big Solar finally is emerging from Solyndra’s shadow. “Big Solar cannot simply reoccupy Solyndra’s office space and declare victory without first making fundamental changes,” said David Williams, President of Taxpayers Protection Alliance. “The American people and their elected representatives should have no faith that other Solyndras are not also poised to collapse like a house of cards. Why should taxpayers have confidence in Big Solar when the same subsidy-based business model that created Solyndra continues to dominate an unprofitable industry?” Click 'read more' below to see the full release