Solar Energy - Political & Economical Issues

   Storing solar energy at night and during cloudy days can be very expensive ("Alternative energy sources"). Nevertheless, solar power is the second-fastest-growing energy source today. The cost of buying a kilowatt worth of solar photovoltaic cells dropped from $70,000 in the 1970s to $4,000 in 1997, and in 10 years it could go as low as $1,000 (Johnson, par. 2).
  
   If solar energy is absolutely free, why isn’t everything powered by it? There are costs involved in creating, running and maintaining your solar (photovoltaic) system. From the diagram above, it is clear that there is a lot of hardware needed to set up this system. Typically around $32,000 is needed for a photovoltaic system (HowStuffWorks.com). Also, an installed photovoltaic system will cost somewhere around $9 per peak Watt (HowStuffWorks.com).
  
   Parts of Europe and Japan are extremely focused and are investing heavily on the solar energy industry. The political commitment and support has promoted the development of solar electricity especially in Germany and Japan. The Greenpeace organization predicts that this political dedication forecasts that solar electricity sector is at a start of a massive transformation and expansion over the few decades. The objective is to increase the usage and demand for solar electricity while substantially lowering the greenhouse gas emissions.
  
   It should be noted, however, that this kind of a transformation will not happen by itself, and needs the support of both the consumers and the industry (“Solar Generation”).





 

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