Recently which I'd say is in the past five years or so, non-renewable energy sources like oil, natural gas and other fossil fuels price's have been on the rise because of the increased demand and the notion that they will eventually run out. Because of this according to Wikinvet's article on "Solar Power" the demand has grown 30% every year for the past 15 years. In 2009 alone the installation of solar panels grew 20%. The potential of making money on solar energy currently is not huge but once government's impose more penalties and tax's on non-renewable and dirty energy production it will then become a great industry to be apart of.
From the article "Solar Power" http://www.wikinvest.com/industry/Solar_Power
The following is a graph of how solar panels are split and where the majority of them exist. As you can see on the graph four countries make up 68% of the total solar panels on the planet in 2009, and I'd bet that Germany in the majority in that group. According to the article by Solar Daily entitled "Solar Market Keeps Shining In 2011" in 2009 Germany had a 97.9% solar panel expansion rate and has sense gone down. One of the major causes for expansion going down is the government dropped the percent is was subsidizing solar panels installations dramatically. The subsidies were as much as 50% at one point in time and for the investor in solar energy in Germany the rate of return with with rate made it one of the safest and most profitable ventures anywhere. The German Parliament within the past year had to cut the amount it subsidizes the panels because of a recent downfall in prices of solar panels.
Will renewable energy ultimately push out coals plants and other fossil fuel energy producers? At the current rate especially in Germany they will kill the industry too fast. Which is not healthy as there needs to be a chance given to energy producers currently not in the renewable sector to make a slow switch over. Also the additional solar power is putting extra strain on the grid causing the shut down of 10 coal-fired plants according to the article by Treehugger "Germany's Problem: Too Much Solar Power" http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/germanys-problem-too-much-solar-power.php
The topic of renewable energy has a lot to do with the current generation, and generations to come. One day solar, wind, water, geothermal energy industry will be more important in everyone's daily life as you could very well be working for a company directly or in-directly connected with the "new" energy outfit. As of 2009 the current revenue of ", photovoltaic (PV) installations grew by 20 percent, compared to 2008, with over 7.3GW of PV installations globally. Revenues in 2009 for the PV industry also increased, reaching $38.5 billion." (Wikinvest). $38.5 billion is a staggering number to think about considering how long the industry has been around. Only recently increasing demand dramatically.
The industry is growing at an incredible rate even in the downturn we are in. It should be slowed down so a surplus doesn't arise driving prices down and causing unhealthy growth. This is an issue that should be closely monitored by government's because as I pointed out it can get out of hand very easily. Should we make the switch? Or just use non renewable materials until we run out? We will find out sooner or later...
Sources
BERLIN (Commodity Online). "Problem of Plenty for German Solar Energy | 20 October 2010 | Www.commodityonline.com." Global Commodities-US Commodity Market-Bullion-Base Metals-Crude Oil-OPEC-Precious Metals-Gold-Silver-Platinum-Futures Trading. 20 Oct. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.
Cernansky, Rachel. "Germany's Problem: Too Much Solar Power." TreeHugger. 21 Oct. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.
Romm, By Joseph. "Industry:Solar Power." Wikinvest - Investing Simplified. Web. 27 Oct. 2010.
Staff Writers. "Solar Market Keeps Shining In 2011." Solar Energy News. 04 Oct. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.
Welt Online. "Energy Agency Warns of Risk of Grid Collapse." Welt Online. 16 Oct. 2010. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.
I think the use of renewable energy such as solar power is overall, good. However, when the government is subsidizing a sector too much than it could become problematic because that money should be going to elsewhere, and other industry would be losing out on jobs.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who sees the irony in this? People are always complaining that the road to solar energy has been too slow. And now that it's too fast...
ReplyDeleteThis is a new field, so perhaps we should give the people running these companies a little rope. The answer definitely doesn't lie in waiting for our natural resources to run out.
NRG is a pretty sweet company here in Vermont, http://www.nrgsystems.com/ it is definitely something for you to check out if you are interested in the development of this renewable sector here in Vermont, they do business in over 135 countries and are based in Hinesburg ,which for me, is pretty impressive. Let's call them and get an educational tour (they do this, my high school classes went) :)
ReplyDeleteUsing non-renewable materials until they run out would cause a panic. While the industry may be booming I think there's no need to slow it down. It's great that the Government give tax breaks to those who install the panals, and I think they should do as much as possible to make them affordable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michael. I think it is kind of funny that people say that we need to use more renewable energy, and then say we are going too fast. Now, I understand (the idea, not the math) that the rise of renewable energy at such a fast rate could cause financial problems, but I think that there are ways to work around this because of the ecological value of green resources.
ReplyDeleteEither way we go there is positivies and negatives, and usually what we try to do to help ends up working the oppeset way. I wouldn't worry too much, we usually have a way of solving the problem.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Ben and Mike. We are in a rush to figure out renewable energy, and now suddenly we need to stop? The economy always has to poke its big ugly head into things. It's slowing down our progression. I definitely can't fully understand the consequences for renewable energy, whether we slow down or not, but as of right now I am confused as to why we would want to stop ourselves from advancing further, even if money is in the way.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should take full advantage of any other energy sources. I know that things are changing quickly but America needs to become oriented on keeping resources within the USA. While it may be changing quickly the CEO's who run these companies are the ones who will loose and Im sure they can afford it.
ReplyDeleteIn my senior year of high school I did a project on renewable energy and honestly it was depressing how wonderful the options are and how little our country is willing to utilize them. We are very much stuck in our "comfort zone."
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hilary, its awful how we have all the resources but don't fully take advantage of them. It goes to show what we're doing to our environment though
ReplyDeleteSolar energy is definitely something that we don't take advantage of enough. Just the other day the first wireless solar powered keyboard had just came out to pair up with the Logitech Revue. Not sure why this took so long, calculators have been using this sort of thing forever.
ReplyDeleteSolar power has always fascinated me and I plan to become a part of the solar community as soon as I get the chance. Many of my relatives and friends already have panels on there roofs and the systems are surprisingly productive.
ReplyDeleteGood topic but hard to read. A proof read was in order.
~ Paul
Who would have thought there could be too much solar power? It would be good if more people were turning to green energy to premote a better atmosphere.
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