From Guest Blogger Don Harmon: How Do We Right the Ship on U.S. Renewable Energy Companies?

Here we go again!

Another major Solar Power company here posts record losses:  http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111103-727087.html

This comes on top of the Solyndra fiasco, and the news of Ener1’s bankruptcy and also Beacon Power!  What is going on here in the U.S. with the renewable energy sector?  How many more ventures will fail in the next year?  Can anyone blame private investors for not wanting to invest in this market sector?  What will it take to bring investors to the table in our own Country to build a stake in our renewable’s future?  You pundits out there – please consider this as a topic for your new books and blogs or articles in the press.  If the U.S. cannot compete in this market consider the worldwide economic impact of failure as well as the cost to the future generations of our young people to find meaningful jobs.

It seems to me that this is the time for private investors, banks, and Wall Street to join in to make America once again a world leader in the Renewable Energy markets.  Or, sit back and watch us all be downgraded to a third world country.

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/solyndra-auction-draws-huge-crowd/

So how do we do it?  Maybe I am dumb, but it seems to me we need to do a few basic things to get this going:

1)    Differentiate our renewable energy products from what the Chinese now make and compete with us on price.

2)    Use the American tradition of ingenuity to produce products the Chinese don’t know how to make yet.

3)    Think outside the box and use the available Nano Technology that we have developed here in the U.S.

4)    Eliminate the “Solar Panel” concept as presently conceived and leapfrog the Chinese in technology completely.  Otherwise, just let them make them and be satisfied just marketing Chinese products.

5)    Urge our Government to enact a balance of trade agreement with China that makes them buy from the U.S. a more balanced proportion of U.S. made products to what the U.S. buys from China.

6)    Put more Federal dollars into existing U.S. Companies to encourage their growth and stop funding projects that only research the research.

I would change the name and the mission of the DOE (Department of Energy) to the DOE ( Department of Enterprise).  Get rid of the well- meaning scientists and replace them with well- seasoned business executives who can really evaluate proposals that have a damn good chance to succeed in the future.  The current DOE is not racking up a very good success record!

Don Harmon

CEO

LiFeBATT, Inc.

www.lifebatt.com