Is solar power a game changer?

Renewable energy, particularly solar energy, has been touted as a viable means to cut into the market share of the conventional fossil fuel-based energy for almost three decades now. Governments and international organisations have been increasingly upping the ante in terms of formulating green energy-friendly policies, as well as the required finance to integrate the technology into the mainstream. As a result, significant progress has been made to grow the renewable energy sector. But even the harshest critics of conventional fossil fuel-based energy generation have not been convinced that renewable energy is a viable alternative … until now. So what has changed over the years? Solar power. Solar power was declared a champion in the early 90s, when consequences of fossil fuel emission and the resulting climatic impacts sank into the mainstream of the developed world. But the potential was not reflected either in implementations, due to lack of supporting technology and know-how, nor in the balance sheets as the cost-benefit ratio did not secure an impeccable position for the solar power. Yes, the source is abundant and free of cost, but harnessing it is a different ball game. Therefore, it could not readily establish its position as a mainstay in the energy jigsaw puzzle, whereas coal, natural gas, petroleum, and nuclear sources remained the big players in the energy market. In terms of the renewable sector, large-scale hydro projects have shown potential, albeit in a limited manner, due to the constraints posed by landscape, finance, environmental consequences, and the issue of human displacement. Thus, the solar energy sector was regarded as, not competition,but something to be carefully nurtured through extensive research and development and friendly government policies. Once considered expensive, idealistic, and useful only in niche applications, solar energy has now entered the global mainstream, and in the past few years, an average growth of 50% that accounted for solar energy has made it the fastest expanding energy source vis-à-vis other conventional and renewable sources. From an estimated number of installations being a couple of hundred megawatts in the 90s per year, annual installations grew to 40-50 gigawatts in 2014, and the development progression has been almost geometric. With booming economies like India and China joining the solar energy bandwagon, the message is very clear: Solar power is ready to be a big player. However, let us put into perspective the factors that restricted solar power to becoming truly revolutionary in the first place. The biggest hurdle is the uncertainty, which is not necessarily due to the period of sun exposure, rather the lack of confidence that generated mostly from a lack of less efficient and space-saving storage devices. The supply of sustainable electricity to residences, in particular, would be fluctuating if the converted energy is not stored for a longer period. Grid management is also a big issue when tackling and integrating an uncertain energy source with the main grid. Therefore, solar power usage has been limited to small load factors and often confined to the cut-off territories or broken terrain where conventional grid is difficult to reach. The efficiency level of the photo-voltaic (PV) panels (in most cases 20-23%), although improving every day, has not been satisfactorily high, vis-à-vis efficiency of other power plant generation, particularly considering the capital and maintenance costs. To date, solar energy has been dubbed as the “government’s baby” as affirmative regulatory support has been raised in favour of the burgeoning solar energy industry. The generation cost has been heavily subsidised, and the subscribers of solar energy often receive preferential treatment, including tax benefits, bank loans for covering installation costs, partial payment method, and free servicing. Therefore, the general confidence is still shaky as to whether solar energy can compete on its own terms in an open market. However, all of this is changing fast. Some recent breakthroughs have been made in solar cell manufacturing. While the materials for PV panels are constantly being researched to find a miracle cure, so to speak, the resulting price reduction has been significant. Also, companies such as US’s Tesla have come up with new solutions which have offered to significantly extend the battery life for solar energy, while Sweden’s Ripasso Energy has published results of augmenting an 11% rise to the currently typical efficiency level of 23%, as a Guardian report said. Companies in the US, Germany, and the UK have already installed and operationalised micro-grid models, while China, India, and some Gulf countries have been setting up large solar parks taking advantage of their terrain. The US’s Yeloha has been offering a solution called solar sharing -- the company allows customers to “go solar” without owning a single panel by essentially feeding off their neighbours who do (and at a price that’s less than what they’d normally pay to their utility). These are only a few examples of the total drive. In Bangladesh, solar energy has been seeing an unprecedented growth through the public-private collaboration. In an article published in the Atlantic a few years ago, this sector, being a top global hot spot for the renewable energy jobs, is credited to creating a green workforce as large as Spain’s in 2013. In the last 10 years, the number of solar systems in Bangladesh has jumped from 25,000 to 2.8 million, according to IRENA. That, in turn, has created some 114,000 jobs, from assembling solar panels to selling, installing, and maintaining them. In fact, the number of solar-related jobs nearly doubled between 2011 and 2013. The numbers are set to increase further (by comparison some 4 million people work in Bangladesh’s garment industry),and this is still scratching the surface. Solar technologies such as energy converting glass materials can directly be utilised in the growing urban centres and solar desalinisation (a project of MIT and Jain Irrigation Systems devised a method of turning brackish water into drinking water with a solar-powered machine that can pull minerals out of water) and purification can be used throughout the country. Also, the successful operation of the micro-grid running on solar and main grid in tandem can be incorporated. There is no denying that solar power in the present global energy supply accounts for only 1%. But the market for solar energy is gradually accelerating and the market itself is taking charge of it. Today, solar energy is standing where the American auto industry was in the 20s. Within a decade, the spread of solar energy may follow the same track, but on a much bigger, global scale.