Fresh Old Ideas
By Arnold Malone
The sun’s energy output in one second is one million times greater than the total of all energy consumed on earth in 2013.
Now, before we get too excited, remember that is the total of the sun’s energy – in all directions – not the smaller amount that lands on earth. Nevertheless, the earth receives 20 times more energy in a day from the sun than we use in a year. The obvious fact is that we have an extraordinary source of energy; if only we knew how to fully harness it. More energy comes to earth from the sun in 1.5 hours than the total of the energy consumed on earth in the year 2001.
Solar energy is the world’s most abundant energy source. Presently, only seven per cent of Canada’s electricity is acquired from a renewable source. While this amount is growing year by year we are in search of a technology to provide both more efficient collection of power and advanced storage.
As a developed society we dream about making life better. People who made the first motorized buggy never envisioned a cabin with a windshield, controlled interior temperatures along with back-up cameras. Given the amount of energy that lands on our planet every second it should be clear that one day we will harness, store and use this power for the great advantage of humankind.
When energy is cheap and in abundance almost everything we can imagine starts to become possible. Free energy allows us to desalinate ocean water and irrigate the deserts. We could heat homes without environmental damage and transportation…well, let’s wait and see.
It was some 70 years ago that AT&T used a new technology for converting sunlight to power. The hope was to provide electricity to off-grid locations. Back then, they could only activate a low wattage light bulb. Since, the advances in the collection of solar energy have been exponential. In 2023 there were enough solar panels to cover 10,000 square kilometres. Those panels produced 1,600 terawatts of energy (a terawatt is one trillion watts).
The production of solar cells is advancing in quality while becoming cheaper. The purification of the glass has allowed for more efficient power collection. Solar cells are becoming cheaper because of the increasing scale of production. Individual panels now costs less. This year 70 billion panels will be manufactured.
Power has traditionally produced noise, pollution and came with continuing costs. Solar energy is silent, operates with no fumes and once installed continues to produce power for decades/generations without additional costs.
The International Energy Society claims that the efficiency of solar power has been doubling every three years. Interestingly, the growth in solar power is not directly tied to our population’s desire to reverse climate change. Nevertheless, that is a wanted advantage.
In 2008 it was projected that costs of solar panels would shrink by 19 per cent by 2020. In fact, they have decreased by 95 per cent. Solar power does not have those visual issues that wind power creates.
One fact that has been evident across history is that the cheaper the power the more power that we humans will consume.
It seems obvious that solar energy is now at the same stage as when humans motorized the horse-drawn buggy. We are at the dawn of something big. Both the volume and consistency of energy is there for the taking.
The present-day problem with solar power is the matter of storage. Not every corner of the planet has the same amount of sunshine. Nevertheless, when ample storage becomes available this world is in for a very big transformation. Cheap power is coming, if not now then some day.
