Solar
Electricity
Could Help
California

by
John
Perlin

Solar expert and author John Perlin exposes the myths of solar energy and replaces them with facts.

Concern about the availability and cost of electricity dominates the California news. Yet few discuss one energy source - the sun - that could help. Possibly the reason for the silence lies on four myths perpetrated by ignorance and by foes of this energy source: 

Myth #1: the technology to produce electricity from the sun is unproved and unreliable.

The truth: Over the last  forty-two years, those in the space industry have found solar cells - semiconductor material that converts sunlight directly into electricity - so reliable that 99.9% of all satellites depend on the technology for their power.

Myth #2: The use and production of solar cells have declined since the Energy Crisis of the 1970s.

The truth: Production of solar cells has increased 300 fold since 1978. The Coast Guard, the oil industry and the railroad industry have relied on solar cells to power many of their safety devices. Just look up on the pole above any emergency call box along California’s freeways and highways and you’ll see a rectangular blue strip of solar cells facing south.

Myth #3: Solar electrical generators must take up large quantities of land to work. 

The truth: There’s enough room on most roofs to place solar cells sufficient to provide each house or building with most of its electrical needs. In fact, solar-cell material can be incorporated into the facade, overhangs, windows and roofs, making the entire building a mini-power plant.

Myth #4: Solar electricity requires warm, if not hot, sunny weather.

The truth: Many types of solar cells actually function better when the temperature drops. One brand performs extremely well under overcast conditions.

So what’s keeping solar cells off our roofs? Up until now, only the cost. But with utilities buying electricity at prices as high as $3000 a megawatt hour, electricity generated by solar cells seems a bargain, costing about $150 to $300 a megawatt hour. The price difference is even more compelling because the price of electricity produced by solar cells is at the point of delivery - the retail price. The utilities, in contrast, are paying much higher bills just to have the electricity in their lines. To turn a profit, they must charge customers even more.

Here’s how solar cells could help pull us out of the crisis deregulation has placed us in:

1. Installing solar modules requires no long lead time. Unlike giant generating plants which require years to build, it takes at the very most no more than a few weeks to put in a solar system on a rooftop.

2. Because solar modules can go up near or at the site needing electricity, the electrons they produce will not clog already overloaded transmission lines. Building new power plants might not help if the electricity they produce could not be delivered!

3. Solar modules provide price security. Once purchased, the owner has at least 30 years of guaranteed electricity, freed from the uncertainties of an ever-changing market.

4. At peak periods of electric demand, such as during August afternoons with the sun shining at its greatest intensity, solar modules perform near or at their peak, feeding electrons into a quickly depleting grid and in the process, staving off blackouts.

5. Solar cells diversify the electrical-generating market. Putting up modules on rooftops would allow smaller producers to enter the electrical generating industry without having to raise billions as is now the case for those wishing to produce electricity through traditional facilities.  

6. Solar cells guarantee energy security, protecting consumers and businesses from brownouts and blackouts. Cells connected to batteries make the consumer as self-sufficient as those solar-powered satellites up in space.

There are added benefits to using solar cells. Placed on rooftops or incorporated into building material, they don’t intrude on pristine landscapes. Their increased use decreases urban pollution and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. They don’t require fuel that in transport could spill and foul oceans and coastlines. If the cells break, there’s no worry about meltdowns or radiation leaks. Most importantly, the sun shines almost everywhere and will not run out so long as the earth remains habitable.

   During ordinary times, the old ways of buying and selling electricity worked. But crises like today’s demand exploring new paths if we wish stabilize the electrical market.   m

  

John Perlin is the author of “From Space to Earth: The Story of Solar Electricity” which covers the development of solar cells and their applications. He has lectured throughout the world on solar electricity.