| Joined: | Thu Apr 19th, 2012 |
| Location: | United Kingdom |
| Posts: | 4424 |
| Status: |
Offline
|
jk wrote:Actually...it's very noticeable in Germany. When I was there in May we remarked on how many houses had 'spoilt' their lovely red tiled rooves with solar panels!I'm not an advocate for doing nothing but I think the Al Gore camp are scaremongers with an agenda. Not sure I know what they want.I agree - I think solar energy - especially with the way costs have plummeted in the last two years for solar panels is significantly under utilised.
I am sure we should be using less natural resources i.e. oil, minerals and should be expending effort to encourage recycling, repairing rather than go get a new one!
Currently 3% of Germanys electricity usage is from Solar sources, some analysts believe this will be at 25% by 2050 and payback times on the investment are down to single figures in years as householders sell back excess to the grid.
Now 3% doesn't sound like a lot (but its a lot more than any other country) but it's the kind of incremental change that starts to make a difference combined with other advances. It's not popular with the power companies however as most of the revenue from solar generation is going back to the households that have generated it rather than the corporation. I don't understand why it's not being more actively pursued though, this done to the max would be economically sound and make a significant contribution to the overall picture.
Last edited on Mon Jan 7th, 2013 10:36 by Eric
____________________
Eric