LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE

Article Tools

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

For the past several years, the good folks at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance in Washington, D.C. have been working to help urban residents gain greater control over their lives through the use of low-technology, decentralist tools and concepts. We strongly believe that more people (city dwellers and country folk alike) should be exposed to the institute's admirable efforts .. . which is why we've made this "what's happening where" report by the ILSR staffers one of MOTHER's regular features.

Imagine a wafer-thin sheet of pure sand that's capable of converting sunlight directly into electricity . . . and you can begin to appreciate the excitement—and, perhaps, a bit of the confusion—that's caused by each new development in the photovoltaic industry.

The phenomenon of solar—generated electricity has been investigated for decades, but the necessary cost has limited its use in the ordinary home. Recently, however, advances in the production of solar cells (the layers of silicon that convert sunlight into electricity) have dramatically dropped the prices of these "miniature powerplants", rapidly making the solar panels a more and more economically feasible alternative to conventional sources of electricity. In fact, according to sun-power experts Paul Maycock and Edward Stirewalt, "Photovoltaics will be fully economic for massive private use before a major utility can design, purchase, and install its next new nuclear reactor."

The comparison between solar cells and nuclear power is important in more than merely an economic context. Silicon cells consume nothing but sunlight while in operation, and—because they create no material by—products—they generate no pollution (although some is caused by their manufacture). Moreover, since photovoltaic systems can be used on an individual household or, neighborhood scale, they're particularly suitable for communities that are seeking energy selfreliance.

Given such environmental and (assuming that technical advances will continue to lower the cost of solar cells) economic advantages, then, it would seem that locally operated photovoltaic facilities ought to begin to pop up all over within the next few years. Unfortunately, this may not be the case. The question of whether (and how) solar power can actually provide enough electricity to meet the nation's future energy needs has directed much of the research away from smallscale systems ... in effect, putting the reality of local energy-generating setups further out of reach.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print