The US Government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) graph shows solar energy's role, compared to other renewables, in the 2005 US energy equation:
While solar energy lags other renewables in the US, there is promise in new technologies. US sales of thermal collectors and of photovoltaics are steadily going up!
Large scale solar - Thermal Collectors: There have been no applications for large solar power plants approved in California for 18 years (there are currently 10 operating plants in the state). There is no one agency that oversees this approval process, and that is part of the complicated problem with getting an application approved (see Little Energy Behind State Solar Plant Efforts), economics is another.
In 2002, California adopted a program to encourage renewable energy with the goal that 20% of the portfolios of investor-owned utilities be renewable by 2010. A recent audit said only about 11% of electricity generated in California comes from renewable sources, with less than 1% from solar. Solar is currently the most expensive to build.
Small scale solar - Photovoltaics: Most photovoltaic cells are made from crystalline silicon, but the technology for thin-film is starting to catch up. Couple this with the increased cost of silicon and thin-films could be the future of solar energy. Thin film is cheaper to produce, more durable and less unsightly than bulky solar panels.
The exciting part of thin film is it can serve as facades for skyscrapers and house roofs, where they turn sunshine into energy (see New Approach May Power Future of Solar). The EIA reports thin-film shipments are catching crystalline silicone (see graph below).
However, for now, in terms of the percentage of power produced from captured sunlight, thin film modules average around 6%. That is less than half the 15% of traditional crystalline silicon cells.
Currently, thin film is 7% of the world's solar cell power, but industry analysts predict it can reach 30% by 2010!
(classic Bacsik)
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