Posted on 07/03/2007 1:32:27 PM PDT by P-40
Development of the solar energy industry in Texas would have a significant economic impact for consumers, the environment and workers, according to a study released by the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin.
Opportunity on the Horizon: Photovoltaics in Texas finds the benefits of nurturing the solar energy industry will stimulate the state's economy, reduce the cost of power for consumers and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.
"Worldwide, the cost of converting sunlight to electricity is rapidly decreasing. The right public policies, combined with emerging and increasingly efficient technologies in solar power, would create a solid opportunity for Texas to build an economic engine on this non-polluting resource," Joel Serface of Clean Energy Incubator said.
The paper cites a recent University of California-Berkeley study that finds the solar industry produces seven to 11 times as many jobs on a megawatt capacity basis as coal-fired power plants and has a larger positive trickle-down effect than wind energy.
Estimates suggest Texas could generate 123,000 new high-wage, technology-related, advanced manufacturing and electrical services jobs by 2020 by actively moving toward solar power. It is predicted these jobs would be created across the entire state as large solar farms grow in West Texas, silicon plants develop along the Gulf Coast and manufacturing centers appear in Central Texas.
The report evaluates the competitive benefits Texas has in the worldwide market and compares the overall results of Texan efforts against other states and international competitors. The study notes that although Texas consumed more energy than any other state and has the best overall climate for producing solar energy year-round, it ranked 8th in solar adoption in 2006, producing just 1/100th of the solar energy of California.
Texans pay about 13 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity. It is believed that the production of photovoltaics, like other semiconductors, would follow a predictable decline in costs. Analysts predict this cost decline will translate to between 10 to 15 cents per kilowatt-hour as early as 2010.
In 1999, the Texas Legislature adopted a bill that introduced the retail competition in the sale of electricity and renewable portfolio standards (RPS) to consumers. Since 2002, electricity-users in deregulated markets have been able to choose their power providers from a multitude of retailers. The legislation requires energy providers to increase the amount of renewable energy produced through a combination of solar, wind, geothermal, hydro wave, tidal, biomass-based waste products or landfill gas.
To date, energy producers have chosen to focus on wind energy for a multitude of reasons, including federal tax incentives for producers, the large amount of wind resources in the state and the scalability of large wind projects. The report concludes that the legislation has brought many benefits to consumers across the state and can be used as a roadmap for the successful expansion of solar power across the state.
Worldwide, investors are confident in the future of solar power. The solar industry grew to $10.6 billion in revenues in 2006 and is estimated to be greater than $30 billion, with some analyst estimates as high as $72 billion for the entire solar value chain by 2010.
The report outlines several recommendations to strengthen the state's solar strategy. Starting with leadership to create the policies necessary for success, Texas could leverage its natural resources, skilled workforce, existing industries and entrepreneurial spirit to create a new energy industry, the report says.
I remember the last great Solar Power “Surge”...
Many of what the door-to-door salesman sold still sit unused on rooftops on nearly every road I drive...
I remember the last great Solar Power “Surge”...
Many of what the door-to-door salesman sold still sit unused on rooftops on nearly every road I drive...
Neighbor hadn’t used his since it broke down in the late 70’s,
It was finally removed last summer with the new roof.
Maybe 1 of 100 of these things are still being used.
I have seen no evidence of this. On the contrary, costs of photovoltaic cells seem to be increasing.
Solar is the most expensive, least reliable and generally ridiculous energy source availble and you know it. Yet you just keep trolling for suckers and supporters unceasingly!!!
We’ve been using it for millions of years. I’d say it works quite well.
The same place FRANCE, JAPAN, and several other industrialized nations store theirs! You just hype the nuclear fear like the anti-nuke-nazis like Jane Fonda, et al
Wow. Talk about jumping to negative opinions about someone w/o due consideration. Did the amnesty thing bother you that much? I am glad it died.
IMO, the gov’t boondoggle with the solar stuff & the solar use study both continue to keep me ROFLMAO. That and lots of other posts and links I read on the net.
Comic relief is good for the soul.
“No one wants the stuff in their back yard. “
A remote mountain is in nobody’s ‘backyward’, and the Congress has resolved it. Yucca Mountain has been chosen.
nevertheless, used nuclear fuel can be recycled to minimize waste streams and eliminate completely the ‘long-lived waste’ that is a concern.
“yet solar gives us less than 1% of our energy.
That is a lot of energy.”
LOL. ‘less than 1%’ as in a fraction of even that.
Nuclear power generating capacity is 105,585 MWs, enough for 50 million homes. THAT IS A LOT OF POWER.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epat2p2.html
Go find out how much solar contributed and report on it.
“It is cheap, reliable, and waste-free.”
Nuclear power can make that claim, not solar.
Solar power remains hugely expensive, not competitive with
other forms of energy production and only put in place where massively subsidized.
Well, of course! For fantastic industrial uses like getting sun burns, etc. I’d say get real, but I’ve watched your ridiculous relentless replys long enough to know better!!!
Even more expensive and nobody wants that in his yard frying his pets and garden vegetables.
They are quite welcome here. Where they will be going there are no pets or vegetables to speak of.
A study of "free enterprise" in total creating jobs is out of the question via PC directive however, right?
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