The price of a barrel of oil has by no means been higher (.00+ in
summer 2005 even before the chaos caused by Katrina). Some say
this is a temporary spike, but a lot more and a lot more analysts are
agreeing that this type of pricing is here to remain. 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 boost by as significantly 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 price of producing energy employing
standard non-renewable resources, this rate is bound to be
overtaken by unheard of price increases in the really near future.
And for consumers who are becoming much more and more environmentally
conscious, the thought of the millions and millions of tons of
CO2 and other bi items being released into the atmosphere
annually through the use of fossil fuels in producing energy is
really alarming.
It is a no brainer that our reliance on oil to generate energy
leaves us extremely vulnerable. There are renewable technologies that
create energy, but the difficulty has been 1 of price
effectiveness. It has constantly been less expensive to supply energy employing
fossil fuels, and consequently, renewable sources such as solar
or wind power have not taken off. But the situation now appears
to be changing. A lot more and much more, our consumption of energy is
outstripping supply. The grid can barely maintain up with demand and
rolling blackouts are no longer just a concept. No wonder
governments are searching for alternatives. And no wonder every person
is talking solar once once more.
In 1985 annual worldwide solar power program installation
accounted for 21 megawatts of power. By 2004, this had
multiplied to an amazing 927 megawatts in new installation
power production alone. The demand for solar produced energy
over the last several years has increased annually about 25%,
though in 2004 sales were up a whopping 67% from the previous
year.
There are many reasons for this boost in popularity for
all points 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
obtaining price successful. While traditional energy production gets
more expensive, technological advances are generating solar power
more affordable. In 1980 the cost of harvesting energy from the sun
stood at about per watt. Literally a hundred times a lot more
pricey than the going rate of electricity, these systems were
not economically viable. By 1999 even so, technology had reduced
this to about per watt and costs have continued to decline by
about five% per year considering that. The Return on Investment is becoming
really appealing for a lot of commercial organizations and customers.
Efficiencies have been realized in several technologies. The
inverters that transform the collected DC energy into usable AC
energy utilised to deliver only about 65% efficiency. 35% of the
collected energy was lost in the transformation procedure. Today’s
transformers are so effective they deliver up to 96% of
collected energy into usable AC present.
Photovoltaic technology has also made solar collection far far more
efficient. Twenty years ago, only 5% of the sun’s energy hitting
a solar charging panel was harvested. This figure is now in
excess of 15% and will continue to climb as much more efficient
compounds are designed and introduced in the manufacture of
these photovoltaic panels.
All levels of government are increasingly searching at solar to
present stable, price successful and environmentally friendly
power. 35 states now have some kind of rebate program for
homeowners that install solar power systems. And this is not
just the southern “sunny states”. While California is the clear
leader in promoting solar powered energy solutions (a program
introduced in 2003 is promoting the introduction of solar
powered energy systems into a million homes over the next
many years) New Jersey and New York are next in line for
solar investment.
At the municipal level, several jurisdictions have introduced solar
solutions for traffic and streetlights. 50% of the energy used
to run the City of Sacremento’s water purification plant is
solar. NASA utilizes solar powered energy systems in several of its
buildings. And governments are not making use of solar just due to the fact it
is great for the environment and sets an example for commercial
entities and consumers (despite the fact that these positive aspects can not be lost
on them!). They’ve concluded that opting for solar systems will
save them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
With so several rebate programs these days homeowners are coming to the
very same conclusions. Once the initial return on investment is
recouped (as early as 4 to 6 years with the rebate programs in
California for example), solar users do not have any additional
energy bills, virtually no maintenance to worry about and are not
slave to an electrical grid that is becoming far more and much more
fragile as demand outstrips supply. No wonder solar power is
getting attention!
Solar power is still more costly than traditional energy
production techniques, but the gap is narrowing every single year. Solar
power applications are also multiplying at an incredible rate.
Home heating, solar pool lighting and heating, hot water tank
heating, calculators, flashlights, solar garden lighting and on
and on. Solar is clean, it’s effective and it is here to remain.