Is Solar Power Actually Viable for Large-Scale Use?

 Solar Energy  

The viability of solar energy is a big question for the near future.  With prices dropping, and the technology improving, how close are we to solar becoming competitive with fossil fuels?

The sun is a free, renewable energy source just waiting to be harvested. Many individuals have installed private solar power panels on their houses to supplement the power supply. The real question is whether solar power can be gathered and used commercially as a viable replacement for fossil fuel.

Availability

One problem with solar power is that it is not always available. It is not available at night, and clouds frequently block the sun during the day. The obvious solution is to try to store solar energy in some way for use when the sun isn't shining, but no one has come up with a truly economical way to store solar energy generated by photovoltaic panels.

According to an environmentalist who holds an online Electrical Engineering Master's degree, if a public utility decided to use solar power they would have to have a fossil fuel plant available as backup. They would have to switch back and forth between solar power and conventional power as the available sunlight shifted. This kind of switching is very inefficient. Starting and stopping a clean natural gas power plant uses up more energy than would be supplied by the solar panels, so a dirty coal power plant would have to be used instead.

Related articles Microbatteries Offer A Boost For Electronics  Prototype Fusion Reactor in Five Years?  New Battery Could Help Solar and Wind Energy Power the Grid

Due to its governmental policies, Germany is currently the top solar-energy producing nation the world. It also has extremely expensive energy, with the retail rate at 34 cents per kilowatt-hour; U.S. retail energy is 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. And Germany is producing large amounts of pollution because the areas served by solar energy during the day turn to coal-powered plants to provide energy the rest of the time.

Resource Issues

Unlike wind turbine power plants that can easily share space with agriculture, solar panelscannot share the land with any other user, including wildlife and plants. A concentrating thermal solar power plant needs 4 to 16 acres per megawatt generated. These plants also consume significant amounts of water, around 600 gallons per megawatt generated. The sunny deserts that are considered the best sites for large-scale solar plants have limited water supplies.

Image Source - U.S. Department of Energy

Prices Falling

On the other hand, the price of utility-scale solar energy had dropped to 11 cents per kilowatt-hour by 2013. Utility-scale energy is generated by small plants and sold to wholesale utility buyers, not directly to consumers. Utility-scale natural gas energy is being sold for around 6 cents per kilowatt-hour, so solar energy technology has to advance a bit further in efficiency before becoming a truly viable commercial energy source.

By Emma Sturgis

Embed