Solar Power Discussion on NPR

I was listening to NPR this morning when I heard an interesting discussion of "net metering".... I guess out east there are ordinary commercial buildings like Walgreens' drugs being equipped with rooftop solar, and they are engaging in "net metering" ... "selling back to the utility at market rates" .... "this is bad for utilities, who want to buy wholesale" (i.e. the utility is subsidizing solar installations, I guess). Sounds like Sun Edison is engaged in a fight. A precursor of things to come here in California?

I then surfed to npr.org. I found the following. It is a good radio broadcast .... sort of a "feel good" talk by an industry proponent, but nevertheless, informative.

New Approaches Explored for Creating Solar Panels

Talk of the Nation, April 20, 2007 · How can the cost of solar energy be reduced? Chris Eberspacher, chief scientist for a Silicon Valley company called Nanosolar, talks about the work his company is doing to develop a product that would make solar cells much less expensive to manufacture and install.

A "rough" summary:
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1. 1:00 : Overall potential for solar power as a renewable source
2. 2:30 : Discussion of nano-solar technology - how it gets produced
3. 5:30 : How solar tech. can compete "head to head with grid electricity"
4. 6:00 : What Nanosolar is doing, including detailed discussion of nano-tech production
5. 9.00 Discussion of global solar energy market
6. 11:00 : cost of solar electricity to consumers
7. 11:45 : Brief discussion of compatibility of solar and ethanol
8. 12:45 : Discussion of future for nano-solar technology products ("it will supplant existing technology based on crystal and silicon")
9. 13:45 : Silicon Valley = "Solar Valley"?
10. 15.20 : State of California legislation that promotes or subsidizes solar (including, "net metering")
11. 16.40 : Problems distributing solar electricity across wide distances

Sounds like they didn't get any phone calls.... or maybe they just didn't broadcast them ...