I have written beffore about the reduction in price of solar energy, and how each succcessive price decline would deliver a new generation of adoption. Now, we can examine some of the specfic technologies that are driving the race to affordability, and will enable solar energy to be one of the only candidate technologies to lead an economic recovery from the present downturn.
Popular Mechanics has a roundup of five new areas of innovation in harnessing energy from the Sun. All five promise to make solar energy competitive with the cheapest sources of fossil-fuel energy, and many of these five technologies could work in combination with each other. The five technologies are the following :
Now, many of these technologies were invented before 2008, so this roundup does not alter the fact that 2008 was a year of very low technological innovation. However, all these innovations bode very well for a tremendous boom in solar power starting around 2010. Each technology has one or more startup companies mentioned in each section. The industry consensus is that solar power becomes competitive with conventional sources of power generation by around 2011, varying by the local cost of electricity and the solar intensity of a particular region (i.e Arizona becomes cost-competitive for solar before British Columbia does).
The greatest benefits, however, will accrue to emerging markets. Many poorer countries not only have electricity rates that are much more expensive than in the US, but these countries, being in more southern latitudes, receive greater solar intensity to begin with. Breakeven in these markets arrives even sooner than it does for the wealthy countries at more northern latitudes. Many villages in India, VietNam, Iraq, Egypt, and Indonesia will go from having no electricity to having photovoltaic electricity.
Related :
The revised stimulus bill still has a substantial largess for solar as of Friday the 13th.
Posted by: jeffolie | February 13, 2009 at 03:31 PM
Do you have a link with the details regarding Solar in the porkulus package?
Posted by: GK | February 13, 2009 at 04:38 PM
Sorry, I do not have a link. I do not believe the porkulus has been published. The President has not yet signed it.
The source of the solar info was a CNBC reporter who was commenting on the advisability of investing in First Solar and the porkulus.
Posted by: jeffolie | February 14, 2009 at 04:45 PM
No one has read the porkulus. But the world as we know it will end if it isn't implemented.
Re: power generation in the third world, it's important to factor in average population IQ. In Vietnam, the IQ is plenty high enough (avg IQ 95 +) to maintain virtually any power technology, given the capital investment. In most sub-saharan African countries (avg. IQ 70) not so.
The cost of a technology can go low enough so western countries can donate any number of low-cost systems. If the locals don't maintain the equipment, too bad. Waste all around.
Posted by: Al Fin | February 15, 2009 at 04:16 PM
Al Fin,
I don't think differences in national IQ are for reasons any more than lack of access to schools, Internet, a culture that nurtures knowledge, etc. It is not biological.
Note that some cultures are 'wheelbarrow' cultures, i.e. cultures that fail collectively, but do extremely well when they migrate into more open societies.
Posted by: GK | February 15, 2009 at 09:53 PM
GK, sorry to post this here but could you please do a section on this? The US Army is recruiting temporary immigrants with knowledge of Hindi/Tamil for their operations in Iraq/Afghanistan. I find it pretty insane. Thanks!
http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/feb/15us-army-to-recruit-temporary-immigrants-who-speak-hindi-tamil.htm
Posted by: Shiv | February 15, 2009 at 11:50 PM
oops, sorry...having trouble linking to a website. please copy/paste.thanks! here is the URL:
http://www.rediff.com/news/2009/feb/15us-army-to-recruit-temporary-immigrants-who-speak-hindi-tamil.htm
Posted by: Shiv | February 15, 2009 at 11:55 PM
Shiv,
In the article, I don't see anywhere that the immigrants chosen who speak Hindi and Tamil are needed in Afghanistan. They are seeking Chinese and Russian speakers too. They just want a mix.
This is the typical unprofessionally done article at Rediff, starting out with the first sentence having nothing to do with the content of the article.
Posted by: GK | February 16, 2009 at 03:00 AM
In the article"Solar Power's Next 5 Game-Changing Technologies" the data provided are good. I suggest to you to visit http://investmentsinenergy.com. This site has plenty of info regarding Solar energy investment and energy investment by various firms across the world.
Posted by: Adriannakaitlyn | October 01, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Hello,
We are looking at buying a house and renovating it, and were wondering about using solar or wind power to power much of our house. We will have a well, be on a septic system, have a wood burning furnace for heating the house, so we would like to have solar or wind power so we can use as little electricity as possible (its insanely expensive here!). We also have our appliances (fridge, stove, washer, dryer, freezer).
How much would a basic set up be for a 900 sq ft, 3 bedroom house?
Posted by: Renewable energy systems | October 20, 2010 at 03:40 AM
That's great stuff. Since I'm also very computer-centric, that's a way that would work very well for me. appreciate hearing from you! I'm thinking of a couple others I'll write up.Thanks you so much for all your kind compliments! I'm glad you find this site helpful!
Posted by: Coach outlet | September 18, 2011 at 07:54 PM
You really did a great job on this research. All of us would probably benefit from these game changing technologies in the near future and I can't wait for that.
Posted by: solar energy | February 05, 2012 at 04:14 AM