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.
