Jag,
I too believe in using alternate energy sources whenever plausible.
However, the end of this article may have some "less-then-brutally-honest" statistics.
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Shrinking solar,
Expanding profit
Konarka, Nanosolar and Nanosys say that nanotechnology could make the price of electricity less expensive per watt.
Current cost of solar energy, per watt: $4-$5
Average cost of energy from traditional fossil fuel sources, per watt: $1
Estimated cost of energy from nanotech solar panels, per watt: $2
Total energy-generating capacity of the United States: 950,000 megawatts
Potential total rooftop solar energy capacity in the United States: 710,000 megawatts
Source: Energy Foundation [\b]
Depending on the source of energy, Electrical Utilities charge anywhere between a nickel and 15 cents per kilowatt hour.
Now if energy production is costing them $1 per watt, these are the most generous corporations in the universe, or they are government subsidized.
Since we know all the government does affecting Electrical Utilities costs the Utilities money, we can rule out the subsidy program idea. And since Electrical Utilities continue to be one of the most secure investments there is, the conclusion is the utilities must be making money hand over fist at a nickel/kilowatt.
The problem with solar energy goes to the heart of all electrical energy production problems. That is: there is no practical way to store electricity; and unless you live in Alaska, half of most everyone's day is dark. Solar energy works fairly well as a peaking energy source. (Demand tends to increase throughout the day as more air conditioners are lit off in the summer.)
There is also the matter of cloud cover which is why the only major solar plants are in the sunshine states such as Arizona or Nevada.
I have seen more solar power showing up on a much smaller scale. For instance railroad crossings in remote areas may have a solar panel that charges a battery. The battery stores enough power to cycle the railroad crossing 10 times. The problem is what if there are several rainy days in a row? There is a possibility the battery being dead, resulting in an accident. I have seen the solar panels, in these locations being supported be small wind generators.
I have not priced solar panels, but if the cost structure quoted above is:
If you want to build a 1,000,000,000 watt conventional plant, the rule of thumb is it will cost you about $1,000,000,000 to put it on line, which is amortorized over the expected generation lifetime of the plant. (what is the expected average watt-hours generated over the lifetime of the plant). That is why they can charge a dime a kilowatt and make money hand over fist.
Evidently, what they are saying is to build a 10 watt solar plant and put it on line, it will cost you $20.00. However, that 10 watts is only available 12 hours a day, only on non-rainy days.
Just my opinion.
BILL
AI
