Solar Energy: Saved by the Sun: Nova

This is a 56 minutes documentary on solar energy. It is surprising to see how Germany is leading the renewable energy program. It shows how we can harness the power of the Sun to reduce the Carbon print and lower the consumption of fossil fuels. A German farmer generates solar energy as part of his job. He get about $600,000 a year due to a German Government's renewable energy program. He makes a profit of about $60,000 a year.

Most people dismiss solar panels as expensive and affordable only by the wealthy. 14 out of 50 states in US provide assistance. So a middle class family spent only $12,000 (half the cost) for installing solar panels for their home. They have saved 50% on energy bills.

Whole Foods is leading the solar energy adoption in US. It is not paying a cent for solar panels. It is installed by a solar company that makes an upfront investment on the solar panels in exchange for guaranteed purchase of power by Whole Foods for the next 20 years. The solar company provides a price guarantee that none of the other non-renewable energy companies can provide due to price fluctuation (rising prices usually). So Whole Foods benefits by saving on energy.

Some of challenges of Solar Energy are:

1) If the solar power generating facility is far away from the homes, it loses energy when it transmits the power over copper. So it is better to have it closer to where the power is needed.
2) Only 1 frequency of the Sun is actually converted to Power. Two more frequency is deflected from the panel and is wasted. The panels will be more costly if all three frequency of the Sun is used to generate electricity.

Fossil fuels create political conflicts and cause of global warming. Germany provides it citizens a cash incentive. So there is a boom in the installation of Solar panels. People make money from the cash incentive and it is surprising to see Germans installing solar panels on their neighbors roof and sell the generated power. Solar power should be part of the energy mix that can solve the energy crisis that we are facing globally.

It is a shame that USA generates only 1% of the power from Solar energy whereas Germany is projected to generate as much as 33% of the power from it. I wish the politicians in USA would take their thumbs out of their asses and do something to take lead in renewable energy.