Solar Then and Now

By Samuel Blaine
December 4, 2012 

 

Just south of the State of Washington lies the vast desert areas, ample in sunlight for solar farms to have a strong percentage of the total energy picture, Solar use could easily double just by the projected year of 2050, with the love of individual solar installations shown by many in the field.

It just makes sense. Yet solar realists from North Carolina to Washington state today continue to face hurdles to establishing the simplest, cleanest offerings of solar energy to the energy mix, Too too often community solar only succeeds against the odds.

Thus the fable about the progress of man. The ancient history shows that solar was seen as a wonderful gift of an energy source and the frustrations then were in regards to access, not acceptability.

The global solar power industry has experienced remarkable growth since the 2009 recession. The growth rate each year between 2007 to 2011 was around 70%. At the end of 2011, the total GW of solar panels installed worldwide was 62, divided between residential roofs, commercial buildings, and utility plants.

As is well known, Germany is leading the way when it comes to solar power installed today, and it has been doing so since 2010. Germany’s goal is to replace its nuclear resources completely by 2020 with renewable energy just pushed the country faster. The goal was what initiated the government Feed-in Tariff (FiT) scheme, which intends to encourage the take-up of solar energy among households and businesses, through a renewable reward system.

The U.S has a strong take-up of solar energy, with installations totalling 1,855 MW at the end of 2011. Although, it is yet to compete with countries such as Germany and Italy because it has no feed-in tariff as of yet. Several states in the U.S., however, including California and Arizona, have implemented their own solar energy incentive schemes, and the U.S is expected to become a more important global player in solar energy in coming years.

As Arizona, Nevada, and Texas are some of the sunniest places in the entire world, the potential for the U.S. to fully harness solar power is great. A manufacturer in California now has a capacity for 354 MW and is a significant global source for solar power.