Today, U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz) along with Environment Arizona, have released a solar energy report, “Building a Solar Future: Repowering America’s Homes, Businesses and Industry with Solar Energy,” detailing how solar energy can be used to power our homes, businesses, farms, and neighborhoods as well as how solar can play a role in energy security and pollution reduction.
“This report shows the possibilities of solar energy and how solar is an achievable path to our energy security,” said Giffords, who is a member of the House and Science Technology Committee. “We still have work to do before solar energy can make up a large percentage of America’s energy needs, but we are moving in the right direction.”
The report also also identifies obstacles to wider use of solar in the United States and discusses a combination of policies that could allow solar to meet 10 percent of America’s energy needs.
Less than a week ago, Gifford announced the Solar Schools Act, a piece of legislation that would make it more affordable for schools to install solar panels and reduce electricity costs.
You can read the full report by clicking here.
0 responses to “Rep. Giffords Releases Solar Energy Report”
Grid-tied solar PV is too expensive to be viable. A 1 kW system costs “somebody” about $5000 and will save the community about $50/yr in fuel.
That’s a 100 yr simple payback.
Better to teach the kids economics than waste taxpayer money on this boondoggle. This Congresswoman might take an economics lesson too.
We should run swiftly to a Solar future.
To Joe Solar, your numbers are incorrect, needs both a lesson in math and economics.
Hint look up true ‘economic costs.’
More harm is done to the “community” and its devastating to future
communities.
Solar is the way of the future, along with other renewables.
Ron, My innovation company is running swiftly to a Solar Future. We have raised half of the R&D funds, are showing very promising results and under pressure from DOE to bring our transformational construction system to market, perhaps as soon as 2013.
Joe Solar, We won’t need grid-tied solar. If DOE comes through with the balance of the funding, every new building built can be plus-net energy at the current cost of non-solar construction and WITHOUT subsidies. Every new building using this system will be able to provide excess electricity to its neighbors at a price per kW only hydro can beat.
The Secret, While the PV array is the iconic center of the solar installation, it accounts for but 1/3rds of the installed cost. 2/3rds is in the Rest-of-the-System where we are significantly reducing the cost.