Word: solarity
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...Solar power was an exotic new technology when John Schaeffer graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1972 and helped start a primitive commune in the woods of northern California. But he was a tinkerer, and in his spare time he managed to rig up a solar-powered television set so he wouldn't have to miss his favorite shows. Soon Schaeffer was selling solar panels to his fellow urban refugees at a time when, he recalls, "only dope growers could afford them." Today Schaeffer's beard has become a white goatee, and his Real Goods Trading...
Until now, solar energy has appealed mostly to affluent homeowners and self- described tree huggers -- the save-the-environment folks. That's because buying and installing solar equipment can cost $15,000 for an average-size home before any current starts to flow. "Even Edison first electrified the homes of his wealthy investors, so the high-end client has always been fertile ground," says Steven Strong, whose firm, Solar Design Associates, based in Harvard, Massachusetts, is among the country's leading designers of solar homes...
...broaden the market, Strong set out to design an all-solar neighborhood of 30 working-class houses and eight commercial buildings in Gardner, Massachusetts, that opened in 1986. Sponsored by New England Electric Systems utility company, the project offers a glimpse of the day when solar-run homes could become as common as split-level houses. Solar power already helps heat and light more than 100,000 U.S. houses. And this week Real Goods is sponsoring a tour of homes from Maine to California that have all their energy needs met by sun, wind or water power...
What's making solar energy so hot? For one thing, the technology is getting better and cheaper. The price of the photovoltaic cells that convert sunlight to electricity has fallen precipitously from $500 a watt in the 1960s to about $4 today. Companies are now rushing to break the $2 barrier, which would reduce the residential cost of solar electricity from 30 cents per kWh to near the 12 cents average price of electricity in California. Leading contestants in the scramble are Texas Instruments and Southern California Edison, which have joined forces to produce flexible solar panels from inexpensive...
...price of solar technology has plummeted, the political climate has improved. While Jimmy Carter created tax breaks to spur solar development, Ronald Reagan viewed the incentives as government meddling in the energy business and unceremoniously scrapped them. In a symbolic move, Reagan also took down the solar panels Carter had installed on the roof of the White House. (The Clinton Administration is considering whether to put up new ones.) "Reagan took the steam and momentum out of solar and other forms of renewable energy development for a good 10 years," says Strong...