The royal families of Mesopotamia were afraid of the dark. Two-thousand years before Christ, the prophets of that civilization warned that solar eclipses foretold political assassination.
Superstitious but clever, Mesopotamian kings would cheat death by abdicating the throne to a condemned criminal. After the eclipse, according to cuneiform tablets, the royal would return, kill the convict, and reassume his reign. It was simple.
But when the moon throws shade and the sun vanishes this Monday, solar magistrates won’t follow the example of the Mesopotamians.
Ironically, darkness doesn’t really hurt energy production.
While the total eclipse will block out the sun from Lincoln Beach, Ore., to Charleston, S.C., it will obscure sunlight over hundreds of solar photovoltaic power plants. But the Energy Information Administration “does not anticipate the eclipse will create reliability issues for the bulk power system.”
The reason is two-fold. First, and as the EIA explains, because “relatively little solar PV capacity lies in the path” of the eclipse. And second because harnessing the sun is a terrible, no good way to generate electrical power in a country with an advanced economy and varied geography like the United States.
Imagine for a moment that an apocalypto eclipse blots out the sun over the continental United States.
There would be no blackouts. Coal would still burn, wind turbines would still turn, and electricity would still flow. At least in the short-term, losing solar would barely make the lights flicker.
In fact, according to the Energy Information Administration, utility-scale solar contributed a mere 0.9 percent to the entire national grid in 2016. And that’s scandalous.
Not only has the benefit been miniscule, soaking up the sun has been incredibly expensive. According to one 2015 study, the taxpayer guarantees loans, offers preferential tax treatments and doles out generous subsidies for solar companies to the tune of $39 billion annually.
Sure, someday solar power could provide an efficient alternative to fossil fuels. After all, the yellow dwarf in the middle of our solar system won’t go dark anytime soon.
Still, the solar industry has consumed much and produced little. Every solar lobbyist under the sun clamors for billions more in federal subsidies. But soon the sun will be eclipsed by the moon.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
