Solar power has left the dream stage

Bangkok Post, 5/06/2011

Many people must have gotten a laugh out of the comments reported by Bloomberg on May 26 by some wild-eyed dreamer who thinks solar power-generated electricity can be cheaper to produce than fossil fuel-produced electricity in just five years' time.

But wait, this was no joke. These words were coming from Mark Little, global research director for General Electric Co, the company which since its formation in the early 1890s by Thomas Edison has been at the forefront of innovations in harnessing the natural phenomenon that is now indispensable to modern civilisation.

Today, the company is the world's biggest maker of jet engines, power-generation equipment, locomotives and medical imaging machines, and is ranked by Forbes magazine as the world's third largest company, with 287,000 employees globally.

The company announced in April that it had improved the efficiency of thin-film solar panels to 12.8%, a record, but other companies, particularly in China, are hot on their heels in the race to extract more energy from the sun's rays. At the same time, Bloomberg reported, the cost of solar cells has fallen 21% this year, and the cost of solar power is now about the same as the rate utilities charge for conventional power in the sunniest parts of California, Italy and Turkey.

These developments mean that the people who say renewable and truly clean energies can't yet compete with fossil fuels and nuclear power are wrong. This is especially true when the ''hidden'' environmental costs associated with these traditional energy generators are taken into account. BP has tried its best to limit its liability for last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but it's still costing the company an estimated US$40 billion (1.21 trillion baht) in compensation and clean-up costs. There is no word yet on how much it will ultimately cost Tokyo Electric Power Co, which runs the ruined Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, to ''safely'' dispose of radioactive materials which include more than 100,000 tonnes of highly contaminated water in several of its reactors. Whatever price these companies must pay to try to mitigate the damages from these accidents, the costs to the planet are far greater, and we can be sure that such accidents will happen again.

The encouraging developments from GE and many other forward-looking companies do not mean that solar power could possibly replace fossil fuels as an energy source in five years. There are still formidable obstacles to overcome, particularly with private vehicles. Electric cars have a limited range and there are environmental hazards associated with the batteries needed to power them. We can expect that both of these areas will also see rapid improvement, although an electric engine in a commercial jet airliner is probably a long way off.

While GE and other alternative energy innovators are surely motivated in part by a desire to help the planet, their main concern is to make money. This will undoubtedly be a growth industry in the future, and Thailand should be positioning itself to take advantage of it. The same sort of tax breaks and other incentives that are given to foreign car makers to move to Thailand should be given to interested and viable alternative energy companies.

Sadly, we haven't heard much about this important issue from either major party in their campaign rhetoric. There is some good news on the home front, however. Thailand is considered the regional leader in solar energy and has the largest photovoltaic power plant in Southeast Asia, albeit a modest 44MW. The National Energy Policy has the stated goal of increasing the role of renewables in energy generation to 20% by 2022, and the government has given incentives to bring alternative energy industries to the Kingdom.

Andrew Beebe, chief commercial officer for China-based Suntech Power Holdings, the world's largest manufacturer of crystalline silicon photovoltaic modules, said recently: ''Countries in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, may look to Thailand as they begin to craft legislation meant to encourage renewable energy generation.'' He added that Thailand is a promising location for solar energy, as the ''solar resources are some of the best in the world'', meaning that solar installations can more quickly make a solid return on their investments.

It is important to remember that solar energy need not be generated only at large solar installations, but can also be generated in the communities where it is used, provided the energy grid is made to accommodate small energy providers.