Fifteen years ago the system my utility used fed 100.00% of the power downstream of the home utility meter. It had it's own meter. It did not reverse the little wheel in the meter. Signing the contract the generator agreed to not tap into his system to bleed off power before it got to the meter.
I am happy to see things have changed.
Now I read the USA has enough shale oil to last to the year 3,000.
Beside raw material I wonder how many total kWh it takes to manufacture a solar panel. Careful now. The employee's participation and machinery costs are part of the audit. The silica to be grown into cells, the prep, the clean room, the laser slicing of the crystals, assembly and transportation from wherever. For off grid, the total energy audit for mining and refining metals, petroleum for the jar, H2SO4 for the electrolyte. Now compare all that to 24/7 falling water, a pelton wheel, distribution network to a home.
