Word: solarization
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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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...
Some of the biggest boosters of solar power are bound to be utility companies, eager for a clean source of electricity that will enable them to produce more power without new billion-dollar plants. Both as consumers of solar technology and as the promoters of home solar panels, utilities will drive much of the industry's growth into the next century. "Utilities are beginning to realize that they're going to have to get on the solar bandwagon," says S. David Freeman, general manager of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). "If they don't and rates go up sharply...