With her small stature of 4 feet 9 inches, gymnast Shawn Johnson is one of the smaller athletes at the Olympic Games. But that hasn’t prevented her from being one of America’s best multi-medalers for Team USA at her first Olympics, receiving a Gold on the balance beam and three Silvers in other competition.
Solar energy has a similarly small base compared to giants coal, oil and natural gas. But it too is a rising star in our global and national energy system. Solar energy comes in many forms, from water heating systems that China leads the way on to electricity generation by solar thermal plants and photovoltaic (PV) panels. PV solar takes the majority of the press hits with rooftop systems on Google’s campus and homeowners who have the means to make the green statement. Installations are growing at a rate above 40% per year, so fast that manufacturers have struggled to supply enough of its major feedstock, polysilicon. This scarcity has driven an increase in the price of panels over the past few years and has driven innovative companies to design alternatives to silicon-based modules. A look at the recent quarterly reports shows tremendous growth as high as 100+% in 2008 for solar companies from the US to Germany to China.
Solar remains a relatively small contributor to US electricity, at less than .2% of supply. But don’t let that small stature fool you. As polysilicon production catches up in the years ahead, solar is poised to join wind to form a renewable team that can replace fossil fuels in the decades ahead. The recent purchase agreement by California’s utility Pacific Gas & Electric begins the world’s two largest PV solar farms totaling 800 MW to be completed in the next few years. This massive scale for solar means they are joining the big leagues. And further advances in technology could help it dominate the energy scene beginning in the late 2010s. Federal support for solar innovation in the US can help our companies and workers benefit from this exciting process ahead.
Tags: Solar