“An infinite power source waiting to be harnessed”
What is the future of solar energy? What are its limitations and advantages? Is it worth pursuing and if so, why aren’t our leaders going for broke? This article will address laws and policies focused on encouraging environmentally friendly solar energy, limitations of solar that prevent support, and ideas to address points of concern so America’s society may embrace this much-needed renewable power.
Solar energy will not be the only strategy to address America’s energy needs and other environmental concerns, but it will be a step in the right direction if solar can generate enough support. Limitations and consequences exist with solar; however, this is true with all energy sources. A balancing act is needed so America and even the world can weigh feasibility, economic concerns, and the laws required to protect and implement solar energy all while being cognizant of environmental concerns to solve a complex problem. A single paper will not be able to solve these issues but it may highlight limitations and give possible solutions moving forward.
The points of concern that limit a solar boom are buy-in from others, laws, and policies to protect and encourage solar, ease of implementing a solar capturing system, and the most important factor, the type of materials available to act as a conductor to create electricity. The type of materials is arguably the most important of these.
As technology advances and allows more construction materials to act as solar panels, the easier it will be to implement the system and the more buy-in from consumers solar energy will have. In short, imagine building a house that will allow the entire structure to serve as a solar panel. Contractors will use construction materials on the exterior that has the ability to convert sunlight to energy. Consumers will create a solar-capable ready home by just building a home. Human beings are creatures of necessity and only do things when they have to.
If our government wants to transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources, participation from the majority is required not the minority. Therefore, the powers that be must make it easy to be green. If all it takes is zero effort from a consumer to create a green sustainable home capable of meeting the owner’s energy needs, the implementation of a sustainable energy source will be successful based on building trends.
In addition, consumers will not be forced to use their new home, or upgrades to an existing one, as an energy source but can if they feel so inclined.
Maybe it was a misstatement to assume that construction materials were the most important issues preventing America’s modern society from accepting an alternative to, not only address climate change but to remove the stranglehold fossil fuels has on our economy. Granted those two issues are related but if legislation can take the choice away, maybe laws and policies are the most important.
What is a law? Most assume when the topic of law is discussed, the idea of uniformed officers is propelled into their minds. Maybe a criminal TV show such as Law and Order. However, it is so much more than that. If one was so inclined to believe, maybe law is a social contract to all that gives guidance on how to interact with any possible occurrence in the modern world.
The word “modern” is used typically for laws that reflect current norms within the most recent society, or the modern law is well on its way to being changed based on a newer generation’s way of addressing concerns. The law is always changing to adjust to new and emerging threats or needs. This is a very important aspect and a unique part of America’s legal system. The importance of law and its influence has never been articulated better than it was when a 28-year-old Abraham Lincoln made this clear:
“Let reverence for the laws, be breathed by every American mother, to the lisping babe, that prattles on her lap–let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in Primers, spelling books, and in Almanacs;–let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay, of all sexes and tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.”
Law is an idea. An idea that must be protected and evolve when a new threat has emerged. The world is facing an ever-increasing danger, one that will need the backing and power of legislation to resolve.
The Sun as a Power Source
Can our laws be used to influence social change environmentally as to the masses? The environmentally conscience states and legislatures always have been aware of this and are apparent in many states that embrace green alternatives. How can we use our laws to encourage, for lack of a better word, the non-believers that change is necessary?
It seems as if laws and policies will be the most important factor. If laws and policies are combined with a belief system that prior leaders and innovators had, the potential for change is limitless. First, an understanding of human interaction and the connection to environmental changes must be acknowledged.
Gifford Pinchot urged Americans to preserve the past in order to protect the future. Known as the Father of Conservation he understood that humans must preserve the earth’s natural resources to allow sustainability in our interaction with the environment.
Henry David Thoreau believed that people should become intimately close to nature. This assertion makes sense as to how we interact with our environment does have consequences. Having a laissez-fair position will not change science, it will not reverse the damage, and it will not lead us to solve humankind’s greatest crisis.
Practicing conservation alone will not take us into a future where we have sustainable ideas that remove dependency from fossil fuels. Our nation will need current leaders to step up and give us laws and policies that adequately reflect the sense of urgency needed to address the current environmental crisis. A strategy that will focus on renewable energy can change this death spiral effecting our environment and economy.
Together with new technology, job growth, and an energy source which is abundant and not likely to run out for millions of years, we can alter the grim future our past leaders failed to prevent. Solar energy can be that source; however, it will take influence to allow solar a chance.
An ancient Native American proverb says, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” The future depends on past actions and we need to understand the consequences of inaction. Current issues continue to give brilliant minds a chance to solve even the most complex problem, harnessing the sun as an energy source is no different.
In 1931 Thomas Edison said, “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” What he was referring to was the Photovoltaic effect. The photovoltaic effect is the creation of voltage and electric current in a material upon exposure to light and is a physical and chemical phenomenon.
A scientist named Charles Fritts created the first solar cell in 1883 applying the photovoltaic effect in practical use. It consisted of a layer of selenium with a thin film of gold. By any measure, it was extremely inefficient as it only produced a rating of 1%. The efficiency rating of a solar panel means the ability of the panel to convert sunlight into usable energy. In a panel with 20 percent efficiency, 20 percent of all the light that hits the panel will be translated into electricity.
Of course, a panel with a higher efficiency rating converts more sunlight into energy. To calculate the efficiency of a panel, just multiply the amount of sunlight that hits the earth’s surface in the region by the area of the panel. Divide the maximum wattage on the panel by this number, and then multiply it by 100 percent to calculate the efficiency rating of a panel.
Nearly 100 years prior to Mr. Edison’s comment and 50 years before the first panel demonstrated the ability to transfer the suns energy to electric, Alexandre Edmond Becquerel in 1839 discovered the photovoltaic effect while studying the effect of light on electrolytic cells.
Below is a timeline (see fig.1) that briefly shows the photovoltaic timeline and its evolution to human implementation for practical uses:
His work on photovoltaics was instrumental as it showed a strong relationship between light and electronic properties of materials, changing science forever. In addition to Becquerel, Albert Einstein’s work was instrumental in understanding how the emission of electrons or other free carriers occurs when light falls on a material: solar cell.
In one of his 1905 papers “On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light”, he gave the science world the mathematical description of how the photoelectric effect was caused by the absorption of quanta of light. Einstein predicted that the energy of individual ejected electrons increased linearly with the frequency of the light.
The photoelectric effect propelled the concept of wave-particle duality in the nature of light and shows the ability of matter to emit electrons when a light is shone on it. This is the basic physics in relation to how a solar cell converts sunlight to energy. This was not proven until 1914 when Robert Andrews Millikan’s experiment showed Einstein was correct. In 1923 Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his 1905 paper explaining the theory of the photoelectric effect.
Physics is an important part of scientific discovery and technological advances; however, it is not needed to know how useful and important of a resource the sun is. The sun is the life force of all living creatures on earth and the survival of everything is dependent on its supply of solar energy.
The sun has also and continues today to influence architecture and even laws. The famous Roman bathhouses in the first to fourth centuries A.D. had large south-facing windows to let in the sun’s warmth. Sun rooms on houses and public buildings were so common that the Justinian Code initiated “sun rights” to ensure individual access to the sun. Even before our modern legal system, humans enacted laws understanding the protection of access to the sun is important.
Our society is divided on many issues dealing with the environment, our interaction with it, and even the best way to create substantial change. Below are a few dates to show current commitment and growth toward solar energy.
2005 The Energy Policy Act is passed creating an energy and research development program covering various renewable, energy-efficient, and climate change technology. The Act directs the Federal Government to implement an energy conservation program for federal facilities and enacts the 30-percent investment tax credit for installing solar energy systems.
2007 Department of Energy spends 168 million on solar projects over three years as part of President Bush’s Solar America Initiative.
2009 Solar projects receive $9 billion in section 1603 cash grants and 10.9 billion in DOE section 1705 loan guarantees authorized by the Recovery Act.
2011 Department of Energy begins the Sunshot Initiative to substantially decrease the cost of solar by 101, spending $250 million to $270 million annually on solar projects.
2015 Solar cells can be made by an industrial printer. The printed panels are thin and flexible making applications and products such as roof tiles or shingles easier. The efficiency is at 20% and a single strip can produce up to 50 watts per square meter, making this the most cost-efficient residential solar energy ever.
2016 “A research team from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Australian National University discovered new properties of nanomaterial. One of these properties is called magnetic hyperbolic dispersion, which means the material glows when heated. If combined with thermophotovoltaic cells, it could turn heat into electricity without the need for sunlight.” “Thermophotovoltaic cells do not require sunlight to create electricity, as the cells harvest heat in the form of infrared radiation.”
2017 Ten percent of all of the electricity generated in the U.S. in March came from wind and solar power, marking the first such milestone in U.S. history, according to a new U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Benefits of Solar Energy
With solar energy being so entwined with human civilization, it is not hard to imagine that the sun can provide the future of our energy needs. It does make logical sense, as the sun is by far the most important source of renewable and sustainable energy. In an hour, the sun provides to the earth more energy than that consumed in a year by the use of fossil and nuclear sources combined.
The sun is an amazing source of energy allowing humankind in the past and future to; heat water, heat homes, distill water, cook food, greenhouse heating, drying food, power generation, refrigeration and air conditioning, passive heating and cooling, production of very high temperatures, pumping of water, and direct conversion of electricity.
It is clear that solar energy has continued to aid humankind in our evolution to where we are now and were we will be in the future. Not only does the sun provide a much need alternative to fossil fuels but its impact on humans in general cannot be understated. This essay is currently being typed on a wireless, battery less keyboard that uses photovoltaic solar cell panels and the author imagines he is on the beach basking in the healthy rays of the power plant at the center of our universe.
To quickly summarize, the benefits and advantages of solar energy are 1) the cost of sunlight to create this energy is free; 2) solar energy is renewable and will last at least a billion years; 3) using solar energy is environmentally friendly and does not cause pollution to generate and has a payback period of a few years (cost of energy to create panel); 4) is widely available geographically as solar is viable in all of America including Maine; 5) can reduce the overall cost of electricity with net metering allowing homeowners to sell excess electricity to utilities creating a profit for the owner; 6) community solar is available to address shading, space, and ownership issues; 7) using solar energy allows our society to break free from fossil fuels and the potential of its applications are limitless.
The production and utilization of energy obtained from natural sources for the well-being of humankind have been the goal of scholars and researchers for countless years now. However, the implementation of a practical working device has remained out of reach by our leaders. Why is that? Sustainability is a goal of almost everyone as it creates a cleaner more efficient environment to live in also minimizing the cost of energy. So why the hesitation and lack of a united front from the majority of Americans? What is keeping America from taking the next logical evolutionary step to energy independence and energy that is not killing us all?
Limitations and Arguments against Solar energy
Feasibility
America as a nation has an opportunity to become the global leader in renewable energy by harnessing the power of the sun. That title is starting to slip away and will soon be out of reach. Unlike fossil fuels, solar energy generation emits no carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gasses that many associates with global warming. The sun offers an alternative to fossil fuels and can limit the need for foreign oil. In addition, it can slow the adverse effects on the earth’s environment that are caused by man. Why wouldn’t Americans want to embrace solar energy? It is limitless and likely to survive the oldest civilization of humans in the future. It is clean, has very few negatives, and can be implemented in some capacity in every state in the union. What’s not to like?
Critics of this energy source always point to its number one limitation, its ability to create electricity is not available 24hrs, yet we consume energy 24hrs a day. To solve this issue, the installation of batteries allows the storage of solar energy harvested during daylight hours to be used in sunless periods. Batteries to have limitations, as batteries tend to be relatively expensive and limit what a homeowner can run.
Although if a homeowner has a hybrid system, they are of course supplementing instead of relying on an off-the-grid system in its entirety. Technology has yet to reach a point where solar can supply America’s need fully. This is an important item that will be addressed later.
However, what if the sunlight never reaches the panels? This issue is very difficult to get around as clouds are a large part of the environmental considerations proponents of solar energy must face. Solar panels still produce energy during a cloudy day; however, their efficiency is hampered tremendously. Typically the panel will only produce 10%-25% of its normal power output on a cloudy day. In some cases, clouds can actually enhance the performance of panels.
These issues pose a real concern, especially when compared to its older more reliable cousins-coal, gas, and nuclear power plants, which produce electricity on demand and prevents an intermittent supply. One way to combat these limitations is coupling. Coupling is actually a way to offset solar electric systems with other renewable energy sources, such as wind-electric, or hydroelectric as these systems can create energy day or night continuous throughout the year. This too has its limitations as the renewable supply cannot be controlled and it cannot be adequately forecasted.
A hybrid system of solar coupled with plants that use natural gas-fired plants and coal-fired plants could help ease the uncertainties of solar energy or any other renewable energy for that matter. These seem to be all feasibility and application issues that can be solved with planning, technological advances, and the ever-important, “An American Can-Do Attitude.” So why hasn’t the majority of Americans supported this alternative and why is America falling behind the rest of the world? A possibility we are in our own way.
Economical issues
The price of anything always has a motivating factor as it is the number one influence that will either deter or attract consumers. When solar panels were first available for purchase and had a sustainable acceptable efficiency rating, the price per watt was described as astronomical. In 1958 the price per watt was $1,910 and the only practical application was in space on satellites.
To put that in perspective, “as of March 2019, the average cost of solar panels per watt in the US is $3.93/watt.” To fully comprehend the price per watt the conversion takes the 1958 price per watt from $1,910, consideration for inflation, to $16705.96 per watt. That is an outrageous number and it makes sense financially why people were so slow to implement a solar system.
Just 10 years ago in 2009, the price per watt of solar energy was still high compared to alternatives at $8.50 per watt. Today comparisons show solar is getting better but still has some time before it is economically feasible for a majority of Americans.
Policies and Laws
When ideas turn political, people pick sides and turn off even the most undisputed facts. Solar gives society a chance to solve many issues that transcend political ideology and an effort needs to keep it away from politics. Many topics in the past once associated with a political side create divisiveness such as gun rights, abortion, immigration, and even sustainable energy. However, that isn’t stopping California from influencing change and leading from the front.
California has set a goal of 100% clean electric power by 2045. In addition to that ambitious goal, California also plans on a goal of 50% by 2025 and 60% by 2030. California is not alone in recognizing a very different energy source for the future. Hawaii also has the 100% clean energy goal by 2045.
Although California uses 30 times the electricity than Hawaii and if California was its own country would have the 5th largest economy in the world. The ramifications are tremendous if California can pull this off and all the anti-change loyalists would have very little arguments to prevent a nationwide implementation.
California has been a leader in promoting solar energy since 1976 when it began to provide financial incentives for investment in solar energy technologies. Some of California’s first policies to protect solar energy is a series of laws designed for consumers to protect the right to install and operate solar energy technology on a home or business, including access to sunlight, or solar access. This protection comes from sections 25980-25986 of the California Public Resources Code, 6 known as the Solar Shade Control Act.
The Solar Shade Control Act provides limited protection to solar energy system owners from shading caused by trees and shrubs on adjacent properties. Generally speaking, the Act prohibits a property owner from allowing trees or shrubs to be planted or to grow in such a way that they shade an existing solar energy system installed on a neighboring property.
The policy rationale behind this according to the Act is, “It is the policy of the state to promote all feasible means of energy conservation and all feasible uses of alternative energy supply sources.” This Section also encourages the planting of trees and shrubs to create shade and moderate ambient air temperature.
But with passage of the Act, the Legislature recognized that circumstances may exist “in which the need for widespread use of alternative energy devices, such as solar collectors, requires specific and limited controls on trees and shrubs.”
That is what California represents. Change. From the very beginning when scientists noticed how emissions affected the air quality, the United States Government said, California would be the testing area and if successful, lay the foundation of change for the rest of the Nation.
Our modern scientific-based society understands the world’s greatest threat to humanity is our inability to act and change the way we interact with our environment. California has always been a leader in human interactions regarding the environment, setting stricter standards that advance technology and influence change globally.
Some substantial changes California influenced are unleaded gasoline, catalytic converters, and counting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles. California continues to be a leader in sustained changes that reflect positive results for the environment and the population of California. Society is only beginning to understand the benefits from the effects of our commitment to regulating ourselves. The Federal Government has recognized that California has a unique challenge, which no other State in our Union faces.
California’s progressive and forward-thinking approach allows a realization that with legislation and a commitment to a cleaner future, the adverse effects of climate change on a local, national, and global scale can be minimized and criminalized if necessary. How can our society create the technology needed to propel America into the future addressing our consumption needs and minimizing the carbon footprint while balancing legitimate concerns?
How was California able to address such concerns when the technology to combat the issue was not available? Technology forcing policies and legislation. Technology forcing is a strategy where a regulator specifies a standard that cannot be met with existing technology, or at least not at an acceptable cost.
Using the 1970 U.S. Clean Air Act as an example, shows the importance of the regulatory implementation process if regulations are to foster technological change. The Clean Air Act required steep emissions reductions for new 1975 and 1976 automobiles, which created issues as the technology to meet this new standard had yet to be produced.
However, the EPA successfully enforced standards that required innovation and gave us technology that is still in use today that includes unleaded gasoline, catalytic converters, and counting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles as mentioned before.
The EPA has the authority to set these standards and as the largest regulatory agency in the federal government the authority to enforce change.
The EPA divides its enforcement tasks into three areas: civil, cleanup, and criminal.
- Civil enforcement: Serves a number of important goals, including returning violators to compliance and deterring misconduct in others, eliminating or preventing environmental harm, and preserving a level playing field for responsible companies that abide by the laws.
- Cleanup enforcement: Deals with sites where there has been a release or a threat of release of hazardous substances into the environment.
- Criminal enforcement: Used against the most serious environmental violations as well as those that include egregious negligence or conduct involving intentional, willful, or knowing disregard of the law.
Environmental law plays an important role in our society as it protect the interests of a silent, non-entity interest, that is the environment and how we interact accordingly. In addition to America’s Environmental Law, an idea exists within the EPA and it speaks volumes as it describes what the EPA’s stands for in regards to EPA Environmental Justice:
Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. EPA has this goal for all communities and person across this Nation. It will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards, and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work.
America’s governmental agencies created to protect America’s interest cannot and should not allow influence according to which talking head is elected to the highest office in our Executive Branch. Even if the agency’s heads serve at the pleasure of the President, the agencies missions should never change and it should never reflect a focus contrary to what the formation it task to prevent.
It is with a defeating realization that America’s governmental agencies are guilty of crimes as their actions are against everything our laws stand for. However, we deserve the politicians that are elected to represent us. People also get away with what others allow them to.
To change this and create an environment that America’s politicians and agencies are held accountable for, America’s governmental agencies must be allowed to punish those who willfully break the law creating a place that shows zero concern to America’s best interest.
In Massachusetts v. EPA the Supreme Court reasoned, “[i]f the EPA makes a finding of endangerment, the Agency must act to regulate. . .” EPA has a duty to make standards that protect the public from harm while at the same time being a leader for forward progressive thinking that solves environmental crises that America’s society faces.
Questions of scientific methodology need to be given the highest level of deference. Executive agencies, like the EPA, have large staffs with technical backgrounds and on-the-ground experience that cannot be thoroughly communicated in court. Judges at times may lack technical expertise and, as such, should not substitute their own judgment for that of an agency, particularly concerning a scientific question.
The Supreme Court has said that courts must be most deferential when reviewing an agency determination involving technical issues at the “frontiers of science.” With this precedent how can the EPA allow the continued stance that is contrary to science allowing individuals to break laws without punishment. Leadership is what it will take. The ability for a true leader to influence Americans to be and want better.
Summary
After a relatively small introduction to solar it is easier to understand the benefits of solar and why the sun has been so important to our ancestors and civilizations around the world. It may also be quite clear why this is such a difficult issue to discuss, as it is multifaceted and encompasses economics, financial stability, politics, opinions, freedom to choose, and even ignorance.
The way out of climate change, America’s dependence on foreign oil, and a hope of sustainability can be achieved. That “American Can Do Attitude” has changed the world in the past and given our society some of the best technological changes in the history of humankind.
It is time to step up a promote growth in renewable energy by the masses. Science will lead us into the future by giving us materials that make solar easy to do. It is not debatable what America as a Nation, as a people, as a leader, gave the world. We have in the past been a beacon of hope and the very definition of underdog, doing the impossible. How do we get back to accomplishing great things and influencing the world?
It takes leadership. Great leaders inspire us to be better. They challenge us to test the realm of possibility pushing our accomplishments to heights never before imagined. Change does not take the President of the United States or even the governing body of any government, whether it is Federal, State, or Local. Change starts small and it starts with you. It can start in your community.
I am not talking about fake change. The change that comes from a seminar, a self-help weekend retreat, or even law students in an environmental class talking but never implementing good ideas. I am referring to, real change. The kind that others believe in, the substantial change that has an impact for the good.
The kind of change that requires citizens to reach out to their representatives and the change made by students taking what they have learned back to their community. It will take work, time, and effort but anything less is reckless and grossly irresponsible. When people stand by watching, horrible things happen. Some of the worst things in history occurred out of people not wanting to act.
It is time to be pro-active rather than reactive. Encouraging change without discouraging ideas or personal beliefs. Not all lives are the same. Different people have different beliefs. Some of which may be counter to others but that does not make them wrong.
Being ignorant is easy, being informed takes hard work and a conscious effort to remove this ignorance. Our children’s future very well may depend on our ability to accept responsibility for continued irresponsibility.
Be the first to comment