The Future is Bright

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INCENTIVES: In Japan, the government agreed to pay half the installation cost of a PV system, an uncommonly wise hedge against national fuel dependency.

Despite this one local success story, Schoer Says, it's hard for the states and local communities to transform energy policy individually. "Without national input, renewable energies will compete economically, but it will be scattered and we will contribute to global warming more than necessary and contribute to air quality problems more than necessary. The Federal government is uniquely positioned through its power to levy national taxes on coal and fossil fuels, institute user fees, tax credits for not polluting, and so on." Schoer calls the Clinton administration's record on renewable energy "pitiful," adding, "America is like a pariah devoting itself to a backwards energy policy"

Several countries give special incentives to promote PVs. Thousands of Japanese residents were eligible for a government subsidy in 1996 that paid half the cost of installing PV systems on their roofs. An even wider-ranging program is operational in 1997, with a subsidy of 33 percent. The subsidy will be slowly phased out as the market develops, production increases, and the cost lowers. Germany has also been providing subsidies for rooftop PV at federal, state, and local levels.

This should worry U.S. manufacturers and government officials. Not only are foreign countries developing a domestic market for solar products, but foreign companies have begun acquiring many U.S. high technology solar manufacturing companies. Siemens of Germany bought ARCO Solar, and is now called Siemens Solar; British Petroleum bought Advanced Photovoltaic Systems and made it part of BP Solar; Solec International, a U.S firm, is controlled by Sanyo and Sumitomo, two large Japanese corporations.

In June, Clinton announced the launching of a government initiative to encourage the development of a domestic market and of high-tech solar manufacturing businesses in the U.S. The "Million Solar Roofs Initiative," calls for the Department of Energy to lead an effort to place one million solar energy systems on the roofs of buildings and homes across the U.S. by 2010. "By putting solar cells on the roof, we're going to send solar sales through the roof," Secretary of Energy Peña said at an announcement of the initiative in Washington in June. "We will marshal our considerable resources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And we will build on the increasing momentum in the U.S. to use renewable resources like solar."

The program will use federal grant money to purchase and install solar systems. The hope is that the Million Solar Roofs Initiative will increase momentum in the U.S. for more widespread use of solar power, increasing commercial demand, lowering the cost, and creating a stronger competitive market between U.S. and foreign manufacturers of solar. According to the DOE, by 2010, approximately 70,000 new jobs will be created as a result of new demand for PV, solar water-heating, and related solar technologies. In 1997, five new PV production plants will open in the United States, with six more planned to open in 1998.

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