Is Solar Energy Over-Hyped? – Continued – By Guest-blogger Anil

Continuing my discussion of solar energy from yesterday ….

The intermittent nature of solar energy also raises questions on its feasibility in certain geographies. The Mojave Desert may get a lot of sun, but the same is not true for other parts of the country. Besides, most solar panels convert only 22 percent of the radiations they capture into electric energy. This means that a typical solar farm has to cover a big area to produce electricity in meaningful amounts, such as the one proposed by BrightSource Energy Inc. in Mojave.

The 600,000 acre solar farm never materialized as environmentalists opposed the idea of generating energy inside a national monument.
Even after much research, solar energy cannot solve energy problems singlehandedly. It is necessary to have continuous power supply which in turn means having to store excess energy. Many advances in solar thermal energy technologies are still unable to provide the required supply of strength.

Notwithstanding these issues, supporters claim that the issues aren’t with the technology but the implementation of the solar policies. Lack of a unified national policy is one of them. US has a piecemeal approach for the solar panel installations including different, local incentives on state level. An aggressive stance taken by the Spanish government last year caused a glut in the market. Companies lined up to take advantage of the generous government subsidies in Spain adding 2 GW of electric capacity in just 12 months. However, when the government announced to reduce the subsidies in September 2008, the move caused massive job losses and an eventual bust.

Quite opposite, US hasn’t implemented a unified, central policy. Experts claim that the lack of such a policy isn’t desirable. Instead, a cautious national approach such as the one taken by Germany is the best way to go about the solar equation. The German law requires utility companies to buy energy from solar plants at higher rates and to feed the energy into their grids, ensuring buying guarantees for solar plants. In US, California is one of the states with such a law. The state approved a feed-in tariff policy in October but the need for such a policy at national level is certainly felt in expert circles.

Absence of a national policy has also resulted in solar companies taking advantage of the taxpayer’s money by availing different subsidies from governments for same project. The state of Oregon had to enact new rules last month to make it difficult for companies to qualify for multiple tax credits.

Lately, the performance of solar companies has improved after the financial turmoil. Most of the solar companies have reported improved quarterly financials beating sales and earnings expectations. Although different formats of solar panels are emerging, both crystalline silicon and relatively new thin-film technologies are expected to flourish, crystalline silicon technology is expected to have an upper hand as far as installation on urban rooftops is considered due to higher energy efficiency.

ADRs of the China-based Trina Solar Limited, a monocrystalline PV module manufacturer have run up 46 percent in November. On the other hand, thin-film players might spring a surprise as the technology is blessed with lower cost of production.

In the long run, the emphasis on renewable sources including solar is likely to increase but in the medium term, the popularity of solar energy and other renewable sources is likely to remain a function of the availability of cheaper or easier alternatives.