Solar power technology has been stuck for about three decades, about the same time as the oil industry brought into solar heavily, interestingly enough. hmmm... :-) Sure there have been some advancements in solar since the 1970s (the price per killowatt hour (kWH) has come down from the sky high $1.00 to a relatively competitive 20 cents), but not nearly big enough advancements to really advance it towards being a useful and cost-effective energy source. Solar needs to come down to 10 cents per kWH or less to be competitive with fossil fuels.
There's no doubt that a concerted effort to research solar over the past three decades would have resulted in further advancements than we have today in solar technology. I honestly think solar is on the cusp of a major advancement over the next five years. And, it's not because government or oil companies are suddenly pouring research dollars into solar. It's because of a related technology field that is maturing this decade, namely nanotechnology. Already there are preliminary breakthroughs that promise far more efficient, far less expensive and far more versatile solar products as a result of nanotechnology research being applied to solar. By, 2010 it is quite possible that we might have solar cells that are a fraction of today's cost, can be painted on just about anything, capture a far larger range of light (even when the sun isn't shining, it could capture UVs), and are far more efficient at converting the captured energy into electricity. This is not pie-in-the-sky either. All of these advancements are occurring in the nanotechnology field as it relates to solar research. It will coalesce at some point into a major advancement for solar power, with all of the positives I listed above and perhaps a very competitive cost of 5 cents per kWH or less. |
