US Firm Backs Many Forms of Solar Energy in World Market
Driven by improvements in technology, increasing demands for
energy and concern about global warming, we are in the midst of
an energy revolution that will unfold in the next 20 years, declared
Robert C. Kelly, chief executive officer of a joint venture, Amoco/Enron
Solar Power Development. Amoco and Enron joined forces in 1995
to manufacture and sell photovoltaic (solar electric) modules,
to develop solar-powered electric generation facilities and to
sell the energy produced by the facilities in the world market.
Solar power generation costs are actually declining faster than
wind although wind is still cheaper, Kelly reported. A facility
will produce thin film from steel, sealed glass and silicon gases
(silane). It will be used to produce energy in a big series of
arrays on a solar farm in Rajasthan, India under a 25-year contract
with Amoco/Enron. India was chosen because of the immense amount
of solar radiation available. It is hoped that economies of scale
in this facility will allow solar technology to compete with fossil
fuels in the bulk electric market, Kelly said. Thin-film module
efficiencies increased from three percent in 1986 to nearly nine
percent eight years later.
Beyond this process is a huge market for solar roof-top shingles.
In the market for new residential buildings, the shingles are
comparable in cost to current sources of energy and can compete
effectively on the basis of conventional utility rates. In developed
economies the shingles can be marketed to wholesale customers
through electric power marketing organizations and can compete
in retail markets now with solar roof top panels. In Japan, they
are very competitive in the re-roofing market because power costs
are so high there. In developing economies they can be sold directly
to retail or wholesale customers.
Grid-connected solar power is in increasing demand, Kelly pointed
out, and this resource will play a significantly increasing role
in the global renewable energy market. Solar farms are an excellent
option for utilities or countries with a high demand for power
and limited options for fuel to produce it. Rooftops provide an
excellent grid-connected market in areas with high retail rates
and high transmission and distribution costs. Solar technology
has unlimited potential and is a key in the drive for sustainable
development, Kelly stated.
If there is a 3-year return on investment, why don't people act
more rationally and put their money into this technology? asked
John Noel, a founder of the Tennessee Valley Energy Reform Coalition
and also a real estate investor. The answer may be that the energy
producers of the Tennessee Valley Authority speak with a louder
voice to politicians, he was told, and fear of an untried domain
moves people more than knowledge.
The single biggest barrier is lack of information, said Joseph
Romm, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy.
It took many years even to convince the DOE of the value of the
technology, but the department is now taking a more friendly approach
and has had successes with such technologies as a refrigerator
compressor and an electronic ballast.
