Is energy from the sun, or the wind, actually 'free'?

Define what 'free' means if you do.

To me, it's not ever actually 'free' as an end-user has to pay for all the equipment to collect/transform the energy, to store it, to distribute it. And all the engineering, property, and other associated service.

Unless you build, operate, maintain all the equipment yourself from scratch, it's not free, but even then how much will it cost you to create all the equipment from the raw materials on a once-off bespoke basis? Can you make your own solar panels, etc.? Your own windfarms? Can you buy the real estate necessary for it if you don't already own that?

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GuyWithOpinions · 31-35, M

Free energy means it doesnt require fuel to run. Has nothing to do with money.

zonavar68 · 56-60, M

@GuyWithOpinions I contend it does, since you can't do anything with sunlight or wind per-se without man-made equipment to collect, process, store, and use it. Same as with fossil fuels. You can get all the crude oil out you want but can't use it in the 'raw' state.

GuyWithOpinions · 31-35, M

@zonavar68 your thinking way to deep into it and misunderstanding the term i think.

GuyWithOpinions · 31-35, M

@zonavar68 its equivalent to saying air is not free because my lungs need energy which costs food. Food costs money and im broke so why breathe.

Northwest · M

I've never head anyone refer to solar energy as free. The term is "renewable" NOT free.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, MVIP

I can see how this question came about. In terms of accounting there are two types of costs.Fixed costs and variable costs. The obvious fixed costs are the plant or equipmwntm the land they sit on and tje licenses or permits you pay to be in the business. They are the same whether you make nothing, or a billion widgets. The stuff you make the widgets out of. the labour you put into it and the cost od shipping stuff in and out go up and down, according to how many widgets you make and sell. We could talk about volume discounts and and bulk cost savings. But thats overthinking it. The fact is that the sun shining in the sky supplies and deliveres free of charge. Just like the water in the river that flows into the Hoover dam. Or the wind that turns the turbines. Now we certainly pay to harvest these things. But paying the wind to blow or the sun to shine wont make a blind bit of difference. They are supplied in the quantity that happens and free of charge..😷

Prince0217 · M

No.

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