Or,
“What I learned on my winter vacation, Part II” - In September 2008, La Revista de Fotovoltaica initiated a
count of solar installations in Spain, and the final number is staggering: 300
installations of 1 MW or more in a country that may be the third largest in
Europe but is still only twice the size of the state of Oregon (and that’s
including the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands). I can personally attest to the virtual
blanketing of solar panels throughout the south of Spain – flying across the
Castile-La Mancha area, I saw mile after mile of panels glistening in the
sun.
While only 10% of these solar systems are rooftop (and
presumably onsite power) installations, the country promotes solar big and small
with programs like “feed-in tariffs,” which require utilities to connect small,
onsite renewable projects to the grid and pay their generators for surplus
energy generated. Additionally,
there are several independent solar users, like Barcelona University (which has
mounted BP Solar
high-efficiency laminates on the building façade), committed to supplementing a
significant portion of its electrical needs with renewables like solar and
wind.
In stark contrast, in June 2008 the US federal government placed a moratorium
on new solar projects on public land pending an environmental impact study
(expected to take about two years). Worldwide, the United States is still third
(behind Germany and Japan) when it comes to solar installations, but actions
like this undermine the kind of research and development (and investment) needed
to push solar to a level of ubiquitousness seen in other countries, including
Spain. Individually, states like
California have taken matters into their owns hands. In 2006, the California Solar Initiative
(CSI), launched the Million Solar
Roofs program, which provides $3 billion in incentives for solar power with a
goal to generate 3,000 MW of new solar power statewide by
2017.
As
always, necessity breeds invention, and in this case a fragile economy has led
one company to find a unique solution that may just provide a workable
alternative to the construction of solar projects on large swathes of land. ProLogis
is a Denver, CO-based company that has decided to lease out its rooftops to
electric utilities. ProLogis hopes
to earn extra income while, at the same time, continuing its commitment to
“global sustainability.” In fact,
the company has already installed, or is in the process of installing, solar
modules in several countries, including the US and Spain.
But
the question is, does the future of solar depend on large-scale, grid-connected
installations? Or, in the end, will
it be the lower cost, flexible alternative of solar as onsite power that will
push solar to the next level?