There's something incongruous about experts
from normally cloudy Germany coming to California, the land of eternal
sunshine, to teach the locals about how to harness solar power, dpa reported.
But that's was happening this week in San Francisco, where organizers of the
world's largest solar exhibition, Germany's Intersolar, launched an American
version of their confab amid predictions of a massive solar boom in the ailing US economy.
Conference chairman Professor Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute
for Solar Energy Systems, insists that it makes perfect sense for Germans to
bring their solar accumen to the Golden State.
As soaring fuel costs combine with rapidly changing public perceptions about
the dangers of climate change, the US embrace of solar power is at a tipping
point, he predicts. Soon, the US will follow the massive investments already
made in Europe in renewable energy, where thanks to strong government support
the solar industry is years ahead of its American counterpart.
"Before, our only argument was the environment, but now with oil at 140
dollars a barrel, I think the much stronger argument will be the
pocketbook," he says. "That's why I think solar energy will have a
great future in the United States."
One indication of the gulf that separates the two continents is the size of
their solar exhibitions. The German Intersolar has been growing at some 30 per
cent a year. The recent Munich expo attracted more than 1,000 exhibitors and
50,000 attendees from 140 countries. In contrast, the San Francisco Intersolar
has only 200 exhibitors and 12,000 attendees.
The major reason for the difference is the scope of government support, or the
lack of it in the United States.
Under President George W Bush, a former oil company executive, the federal
government until recently denied the science of climate change. Vice President
Dick Cheney famously dismissed conservation as a meaningless personal virtue.
Though the US does offer homeowners a one-time, 2,000-dollar federal tax credit
for the installation of photo-voltaic systems that convert solar energy into
electricity, Weber argued that it needed a so-called feed-in tariff to really
allow the sector to take off. Such a tariff offers energy producers a
guaranteed price for energy that they feed into the grid from renewable
sources, and was the key stimulus to boost the European solar sector.
But there are many other factors in play.
For instance, it's no coincidence that the conference is taking place in San Francisco. The city is the northern anchor of Silicon Valley, where an ever-increasing
pool of venture capital and a growing number of start-ups are chasing the solar
dream.
Many are already predicting a solar boom, akin to the dot-com boom that
accompanied the rise of the internet. Some startups like NanoSolar and Solyndra
are already valued at more than 1 billion dollars before they've ever made a
profit, reflecting the huge growth potential that Wall Street sees in the solar
field.
The comparisons to California's tech industry do not end there. Solar-cell
production is a close cousin to the production of computer chips, and there is
a constant exchange of personnel, techniques and equipment between the two
sectors.
"Each time we double the volume of production, the cost goes down by 20
per cent," Weber said. "At the end of the day, it will be the least
expensive energy of all. We just need a little help to ignite the
revolution."
Dan Martin, who heads SemiCon West, a trade association of semiconductor
manufacturers, believes the same dynamic - that dramatically reduced the price
of computer chips while simultaneously increasing their power - will also
characterize the solar voltaics sector.
"We are going to change the world," he said. "I've seen it
happen before, and it will happen again."