Solar Critics Presume No Change

Dana Blankenhorn
March 23, 2011 | 7 Comments

One of the more amusing artifacts of reading solar energy critics is their assumption that technology can't, or won't change.

Take the anonymous (they'll give out the name to clients, they swear) contributor to Gerson Lehman Group, a "council of experts" on-call to big institutions, who recently claimed solar's ascendency has no relation to nuclear's growth after the 1970s oil shock and solar stocks are going down hard.

The evidence? Installation costs are currently higher than for wind or geothermal power. Capacity utilization is low compared with nuclear. Wind and heat from the Earth are just as abundant as solar heat.

Really? Really.

The policy aim of this trolling is clear. It's programs like SunShot, which is an incubator program, like Georgia's 30 year old ATDC. These programs give risky ventures a little aid, but also tell them to sink-or-swim.

Many swim. Abound Solar is a successful graduate of that incubator. Stion is using the incubator to test its stacking of thin-film modules. Crystal Solar is working with silicon modules that are one-fourth as thick as current ones. Solexant is looking to build thin films out of non-toxic materials, and Caelux thinks it can both boost the efficiency of cells while at the same time reducing their costs.

Any one of these breakthroughs could revolutionize the industry. Most won't work out. But that's how science and progress work. Some will succeed. Lower costs and higher yields are coming.

Every chart I've seen shows we can power the world hundreds of times over on solar energy, that it's far more abundant than wind or Earth energy. Installation costs are high for a lot of reasons, one of which is a lack of permitting standards, an issue many are working to resolve. Capacity utilitization is being addressed by new technology.

Actually it's new technology in general that's the answer to this “expert's” nonsense. Here are some more breakthroughs I discovered in just a few minutes with Google News:

Here's a photovoltaic film that sits on your iPhone (or other gadget) and powers it. No more load from chargers.
Here's a system to reduce the cost of making solar panels, coating them with anti-reflective coatings at room temperature.
The market for cadmium-telluride systems, now dominated by First Solar, is going to get some competition, reducing its costs.
Eight19 is ramping up its technology for producing solar cells through a printing process.
Tata Power of India is launching a "cyclone-proof" floating solar array, with technology from Australia.

I put in that last one to illustrate an important point. Leading in the realm of solar technology is crucial to our economic competitiveness. Other countries are working on solutions that could trump us, unless we keep innovating.

There are many dimensions to innovation. Installation. Replacement of wall power on low-power devices. Types of solar materials. Manufacturing costs. It's not just about efficiency, although there are breakthroughs coming there as well.

On second thought, it's probably for the best that this GLC troll remain anonymous. If we saw his/her face we would laugh the troll right out of the room. Better stay under their bridge and remain scary.

The information and views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on this Web site and other publications. This blog was posted directly by the author and was not reviewed for accuracy, spelling or grammar.

7 Comments

ANONYMOUS
March 29, 2011

For us in the UK the trolls are well known, but unfortunately they are running Government policy on renewable energy and they spend their time providing incorrect information,and distorting the truth (as trolls do) on solar energy in order retain the political support of the carbon energy lobby.

Steve Fortuna
March 25, 2011

Not only is organized trolling a reality, but the same billionairres names come up when you follow the money back to the source. Koch, Murdoch, DeVos, Mellon/Schaifi, Walton, Coors, Olin, Bradley, Prince and other right-wing Nazi sympathizers know their arguments cannot win via logic or persuasion. They use their enormous wealth to create shadow foundations and movements to make it SEEM public sentiment is on their side for the weakening of the EPA, gutting of federal regulation, increased corporate welfare and continued wasteful subsidies in military spending and energy policy. A few minutes research can show you who funds these Astro-Turf movements, enabling you to stop spending your money with people who see renewable energy as a threat to their vested interest. They have taken a page from Joseph Goebbels own propaganda manual: "A lie, repeated often enough, becomes the truth".

Bob "The Clean Energy Guy" Mitchell
March 23, 2011

That's wild! If it's true, I hope that there is a special place reserved in hell for people who would manipulate the legitimate dialog that should be happening regarding energy and climate change.

It's sad that people are so easily swayed though! Makes me wonder if we really aren't just a giant flock of sheep!

Bob "Free As The Wind" Mitchell

ANONYMOUS
March 23, 2011

Bob,
in short- yes
http://climatecrocks.com/2011/01/28/climate-denying-trolls-trained-to-disrupt-internet/

ANONYMOUS
March 23, 2011

Bob,
in short- yes
http://climatecrocks.com/2011/01/28/climate-denying-trolls-trained-to-disrupt-internet/

Bob "The Clean Energy Guy" Mitchell
March 23, 2011

A while back I had the opportunity to read a number of blog postings both here on Renewableenergyworld and on a couple of other sites and I noticed that on a bunch of the postings, they all had comments that were worded very similar to one another that pooh poohed solar energy.

They were so similar that they almost looked like they had been cut and pasted by the same person, though they were posted anonymously. It made me wonder if it wasn't somebody's job to read pro solar posts and to comment negatively on them???

Wouldn't that be a shame! Am I just getting paranoid?

Bob "Free As The Wind" Mitchell

Carter Lavin
March 23, 2011

Thank you for recognizing the innovative work that we at Stion do to take solar to new heights! We are working hard to continue to raise the efficiency of our panels, increase our production capacity, and drive down the cost per watt.

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Dana Blankenhorn

Dana Blankenhorn has covered business and technology since 1978. He covered the Houston oil boom of the 1970s, began making his living online in 1985, and launched the Interactive Age Daily, the first daily coverage of e-commerce, in 1994....