Here Comes The Sun: Solar energy is becoming more attractive for
mainstream consumers
The price of a barrel of oil has never been higher ($62.00+ in
summer 2005 even before the chaos caused by Katrina). Some say
this is a temporary spike, but more and more analysts are
agreeing that this kind of pricing is here to stay. World
consumption is at an all time high and given the new thirst for
oil in China and India it is unlikely to diminish. According to
International Energy Outlook, global demand is expected to
continue to increase by as much as 59% in the next fifteen
years.
Already, consumer energy bills have been increasing on average
6.5% per year for the last thirty years in the United States.
Given the dramatic rise in the cost of producing energy using
traditional non-renewable resources, this rate is bound to be
overtaken by unheard of price increases in the very near future.
And for consumers who are becoming more and more environmentally
conscious, the thought of the millions and millions of tons of
CO2 and other bi products being released into the atmosphere
annually through the use of fossil fuels in creating energy is
very alarming.
It is a no brainer that our reliance on oil to create energy
leaves us very vulnerable. There are renewable technologies that
produce energy, but the problem has been one of cost
effectiveness. It has always been cheaper to supply energy using
fossil fuels, and consequently, renewable sources such as solar
or wind power have not taken off. But the situation now appears
to be changing. More and more, our consumption of energy is
outstripping supply. The grid can barely keep up with demand and
rolling blackouts are no longer just a concept. No wonder
governments are looking for alternatives. And no wonder everyone
is talking solar once again.
In 1985 annual worldwide solar power system installation
accounted for 21 megawatts of power. By 2004, this had
multiplied to an incredible 927 megawatts in new installation
power production alone. The demand for solar produced energy
over the last several years has increased annually about 25%,
although in 2004 sales were up a whopping 67% from the previous
year.
There are several reasons for this increase in popularity for
all things solar powered. Beyond the obvious environmental
considerations and the privilege of not having to rely on power
from a grid that is aging and stretched to capacity, solar is
getting cost effective. While traditional energy production gets
more expensive, technological advances are making solar power
cheaper. In 1980 the cost of harvesting energy from the sun
stood at about $100 per watt. Literally a hundred times more
expensive than the going rate of electricity, these systems were
not economically viable. By 1999 however, technology had reduced
this to about $4 per watt and costs have continued to decline by
about 5% per year since. The Return on Investment is becoming
very attractive for many commercial organizations and consumers.
Efficiencies have been realized in several technologies. The
inverters that transform the collected DC energy into usable AC
energy used to deliver only about 65% efficiency. 35% of the
collected energy was lost in the transformation process. Today