Dreams of Solar

Photovoltaic panels were first developed for the U.S. space program during the Cold War. When the anti-nuclear movement called attention to the politics of energy production, solar suddenly became the next great clean technology. Jimmy Carter tried to jumpstart the industry with a federal incentive program, but Ronald Reagan dumped it as soon as he took office, giving solar a radical aura. During the dismal 80s, tens of thousands of grassroots environmentalists dedicated their best energies to building arrays and wiring inverters for life off the grid. Now, even after a decade of double-digit annual growth in the industry, silicon-based photovoltaic panels provide less than .01 percent of the electricity used in the US. Not even the most optimistic industry watchers think that current solar technologies will ever supply more than 2 or 3 percent of grid power. Aside from high cost, solar faces one big problem. Light can only be gathered in the daytime. Of course, batteries can be used to store energy, but they are both expensive and short-lived.