Not Your Mother's SOLAR POWER Anymore

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-JOHNNY WEISS, DIRECTOR OF SOLAR ENERGY INTERNATIONAL

The German and Japanese programs are ambitious by any standards. The Japanese government has committed itself to helping 70,000 homeowners install PV systems, at a full 30% of cost. Germany is aiming for 100,000 systems in a similarly funded effort. Lower consumer costs for power are certainly a bonus in a government-sponsored energy program, but ultimately the political rationale comes down to clean air. "The Japanese in particular have had to conclude that ultracongested urban areas in tandem with traditional coal- or oil-fired power plants are not a boon to health," says Maycock. "They see the wisdom in thinking green." Both programs are advancing utility-intertie connections, in which power to the home comes from the existing power grid as well as the supplemental PV system. If power consumption is low enough and the PV system is large enough, these homes can actually produce more power than they consume, in which case the utility is required to purchase the excess. "One of the most ambitious aspects of the German program," Maycock added, "is that it stipulates that the utility must buy back PV power at the rate of 50 cents per kilowatt hour. That's more than twice what the utility charges for it's own power, so we can envision, then, a real economic boon to thinking PV. These systems can readily pay for themselves over time."

"System payback" is a term long used to describe the practicality or impracticality of solar power, particularly here in North America. Homeowners must wonder what use there is in investing in a utility-intertie system when the power produced by its 20 panels, each producing 75 watts in peak sunlight, can never offset the $20,000 installation cost. "It's a good question," admits Johnny Weiss, director of Solar Energy International in Carbondale, Colorado. "And until the government puts its money where its convictions are supposed to be, the answer is that there isn't compelling economic interest in doing it. Only a few million dollars have been spent on the Clinton administration's 'Million Solar Rooftops' initiative. It was an empty gesture in many ways. The U.S. government has eternally provided incentives to the off, natural gas and coal industries. If we had to factor in the gigantic tax breaks along with the cost of that little military adventure to unplug our supply in the Persian Gulf, we wouldn't be paying seven to 15 cents a kilowatt hour for power. It'd be twice that. And all the while there's been this totally practical and available source of electricity at our doorstep."

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