After a brief hiatus in India and Europe, I'm back again riding on a wave of enthusiasm generated by seeing how other people live and use resources. My research trip was filled with experiences that let me know we're doing well and making progress in the homeland.
In the May/June issue (page 86) I wrote about planning a load profile and finding the most cost-effective renewable energy design through energy efficiency. I will continue with how we developed a renewable energy system for a specific site, and we'll look at the various components that make up a system and discuss the elements of a successful design in the next issue. Now I want to address some of the reasons for using RE and how we can use more of it.
The most consistent result of my multi-national research was that-Yes!-the sun shines everywhere! In India, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, the Netherlands and even England. Austria and Germany use more solar power than many countries, and the solar thermal world in Spain is right up there. Spain receives clear, good sun and there is lots of hot water demand, so many new hotels are sporting large H2O arrays to cut fuel costs and reduce greenhouse emissions. (Practical considerations for California should be weighing in soon.)
So what gets people to invest in clean energy sources today? Here's a short list: environmentalism (fringe and mainstream), reliability, power quality, long-term cost control, disgust with centralized utilities, a love of helpful gizmos, a desire to control one's own destiny, the need to be different, the desire to improve the lives of future generations, and the lust for living like savages in dark caves (just kidding).
It used to be hard to get renewable energy going on a budget, but no more. Grid tie systems can start for as little as $1,000 and stand alone systems can start for as little as $500. Solar domestic hot water systems pay back in three to five years and they'll last 20 years. Energy efficient appliances are abundant and more affordable than ever.
It all comes down to what we really want. It can be a hard sell to get folks to conserve. Yet when we view the issue from the perspective of "efficiency" (doing the same tasks while using fewer resources) rather than "doing without," the sales pitch becomes more attractive. Add to this the cost savings and the motivation can be purely monetary. ("Environment and future generations be damned, I'm saving my buck!") If we want to save money now and have a pretty blue sky over time, then efficiency and renewable energy are the smart choices.
People have been telling me that they want to wait for the costs of RE to come down before investing in a system, for a long time now. While this made sense when costs were exorbitant, it no longer makes sense when system costs are declining and utility and fuel rates are rising rapidly. Understanding that non-renewable sources are finite and dwindling, we can accurately predict further cost increases in the future. With renewable up-front costs being a one-time investment and the fuel costs being zero, the choice of investing in RE today will pay back more quickly and at increasingly higher rates of return over the life of the system.
Depending on your needs, reliable supplies of electricity can range from simple convenience to actual life support. When properly designed and installed, RE systems are more reliable than any utility power. For many users-especially businesses using computers-power quality is an increasingly important issue. Meanwhile, utility users at the end of the grid are experiencing down time at an increasingly frequent rate. While for some this is merely a nuisance, for others it can become the determining factor in profitability and competitiveness. Power quality will become a major motivating factor in the use of RE in the very near future.
One large component of a sustainable economy is clean, meaningful jobs that improve quality in our environment and lives. The work of deploying clean, reliable RE systems is a huge pool of high-quality jobs that bring meaning to work, while bringing home the bacon and beans. Having earned a good living in the RE industry for over a decade, I can attest to the work being good, and the rewards being both monetary and personal. I get to have my cake and clean up our dirty energy production at the same time. I also know that with each job we take one more step toward independence, environmental responsibility and cultural sanity. (Boy, for a Solar Cowboy used to saddling up the PVs and riding off into the sunrise, I sure am sounding a lot like an RE evangelist!)
Whether you are a survivalist in Idaho, an environmentalist in Iowa, a Truly Conservative Realist (TCR is my political party), a computer geek with power quality issues, an elder on life support, or a kid with a nightlight, there is a RE system for you and your budget.
