https://nypost.com/2022/11/16/pols-who-push-electric-cars-ignore-basic-math-and-physics/Interesting article on the truth about EV and solar.
As an expert in the solar field I have been aware of these issues for many years. However, the decision to go green is political, not scientific. I sat in the international meetings where the "experts" argued that conventional energy costs had to be artificially increased to make green energy competitive.
1 - solar panel lifetimes - I helped write some of the proposed specifications for solar panel reliability. Solar cells/panels fail at rates from 2-7% per year. Thus, at the high end one would have to replace an entire installation at 15 years, 20 - 25 years at the low end. Solarization is a real issue as is quality. Also, cleanliness controls output. Snow, dirt, etc reduces panel output significantly (10- 100%).
2 - Inverters have an even shorter lifetime. The load on inverters is very heavy, they cycle many times during a 24 period. multiply that by years. Inverters typically last 10-20 years.
3 - Storage - The physics of batteries is absolute. Companies and institutions have spent billions of dollars/yen/pounds/euros trying to find longer lasting higher capacity batteries. NREL, the US energy lab was even working on massive capacitors. Just don't be within 5 miles if one goes off.
4 - Battery Replacement Cost. - my brother is an auto dealer and goes to the auctions for his used cars. There are hundreds of used EV's mainly Teslas, for sale. At $15,000 - 25,000 replacement cost, EV's are for the rich.
5 - EV cost - even the least expensive EV's are significantly more expensive that ICE vehicles. They are for the rich.
If there were a sudden change to nuclear, several of these issues would be manageable, but that is a huge if.
In the meantime, there is a shortage of RE's and Lithium and why not make money at it?
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