The Dotcom King & the Rooftop Solar Revolution

Hereabouts, the sun is blazing, and not a solar panel in sight. Solar panels? Overthrow the powers that be? Sign me up!

That is, instead of competing with wholesale power from distant power plants, rooftop solar competes with retail kilowatt-hours delivered by the local electric company, which often are marked up as much as 1,000 percent over their original generating cost. What's more, retail prices typically peak on hot, sunny summer days, when air conditioners suck every last electron from the grid - precisely when solar panels are most productive. Add a final boost from government handouts, and solar can get over the hump, especially with homeowners and other customers whose motives might not be purely economic.

Full story in Wired.