Just a thought about the nature of economics...

Free energy ?
There is no such thing.

Unless you're talking about your home fireplace, and the trees in your back yard, you are paying for the source ( oil, wind, sunlight, gas, etc ) or the means oh delivery ( wires, pipes, solar panels, windmills, etc ), but either way, you are paying.

Sci-fi authors and scammers have already monetized the concept. Casimir Energy just cashed in, bilking some venture capitalists out of several million dollars.

But there’s no actual product to monetize

Not sure 'free' is possible. Our PV + battery fitted home uses almost no electricity from the grid - and sends more than twice what we use to the grid - but we paid for the hardware and will face replacement costs down the track.

Too cheap for profitable commercial investment suggest that 'socialising' - treating energy supply as a government provided essential service - could be appropriate. I can envisage roofing manufacturers including some kind of cheap and easy PV coating as a no-extra-cost inducement but even so called plug and play doesn't quite cover all that is involved in installing it with the associated wiring and hardware.

45 minutes ago, Ken Fabian said:

Too cheap for profitable commercial investment suggest that 'socialising' - treating energy supply as a government provided essential service - could be appropriate.

This works well for social housing schemes with, say, several hundred family apartments serviced by a communal centralised utilities facility. Lots of leverage here from economy of scale.

Great for those who relish the thought of living in a scaled up termite mound.

(Not knocking the idea as such. Just saying...)