Taking Care of Business
It’s become trendy to say that solar is finally having its day in the sun, but that seems to be the case, based on recent developments. In the past few weeks, the announcements have come fast and furious: Norway’s Renewable Energy Corp. has decided to invest close to $2.5 billion in an integrated solar manufacturing complex in Singapore. Germany’s Q-Cells AG, one of the world’s largest solar manufacturers, said it will build a $3.5 billion plant in Baja California, close to the U.S. border. Evergreen Solar said it has signed $1 billion worth of long term sales contracts. IBM announced it had squeezed 230 watts of power onto a square centimeter solar panel. And all that’s just since mid-May.
Clearly, this isn’t just for home hobbyists anymore.
Last week were still more developments: Intel, the microprocessor giant, announced a spinoff, SpectraWatt, to develop cells for companies that make solar panels. HP signaled its interest in the sector, signing a deal with concentrating photovoltaic firm Xtreme Energetics to provide HP’s transistor technology to better focus sunlight on solar cells. And a new study set forth a vision of how energy utilities could cost-effectively generate up to 10 percent of U.S. electricity needs through solar energy by 2025. That’s far more than government and other projections for solar.
After all these years, the dual concerns of energy shortages and climate change are giving a boost to solar. But it’s more than that. The technology is changing, too — enough so that solar can be harnessed in a variety of ways: through ever-more-efficient rooftop panels, through building products that harness the sun’s rays, and through large solar farms that convert sunlight either to electricity or into steam to power generators. And all of it is harnessing new materials, efficient manufacturing processes, and advanced microprocessors that bring solar’s costs closer to parity with more polluting sources.
And all this with a minimum of government support, at least in the United States.
It’s a new day for solar, as with other green technologies, thanks to innovative companies and forward-thinking investors. It’s been a long time coming, but solar’s growing success is a shining example of how big business is seizing new opportunities in the growing green economy.
— Joel Makower, Executive Editor
New on GreenBiz Radio:
Green Law: Sustainability in the Legal Community
By Tilde Herrera
Attorney David Scott joins GreenBiz Radio to discuss the Green Guide for Lawyers and the ways in which his law firm is making its operations more environmentally friendly
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