Solar Field: Represents the latest in solar technology. Artists rendition by Sandia National Laboratories

Is the solar energy revolution upon us? Solar Energy: Saved By the Sun, a PBS NOVA show first aired in Spring 2007, asks that question and presents a battery of solar related arguments. While light on science, the program provides a solid, basic understanding of the solar energy debate and a picture of where it is heading.

After waiting 30 years for solar to be the “next big thing”, the recent spotlight on global warming has raised the country’s collective concern about how our energy is produced. In the U.S. we use natural gas, nuclear, hydrogen, and coal power, and only 1% of all energy is created through sun or wind energy. Now, that balance is shifting as we are withdrawing our reliance on fossil fuels and other non-renewable sources of power.

Solar is a $38 billion year industry and is growing rapidly. The film introduces viewers to several scenarios that show promise for its implementation at multiple scales, from residential and commercial to municipal and federal. It stops short of telling us what to do, instead providing enough information for a newbie to have a conversation about solar technology as well as a platform for further investigation. The DVD can be purchased online, or you can explore the website that accompanies the film free of charge.

Some ideas from the film and reasons to think seriously about solar power:

Amory Lovins : Eats a Banana from his Colorado GreenHouse. Photography by Ben Stechschulte

• Kramer Junction is a solar power generating plant that uses hyperbolic mirrors to heat oil, that boils water, to create steam, which turns turbines, to create energy for 150,000 homes in Los Angeles. Locating solar “farms” outside of cities, on rooftops, and in creative spaces, can equate to cities powered in large part by the sun.

• Germany has created a system of solar subsidies and guarantees the purchase of consumer energy. The result is that 30% of the country is powered by the sun. Getting solar in the national politics has led to a healthy solar manufacturing industry and the debunking of the idea that solar isn’t feasible if it isn’t always sunny. It isn’t, especially not in Germany, but the sun still provides a significant amount of the national energy and this equates to a huge savings in fossil fuel usage and carbon emissions.

• Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute is convinced that solar can serve his energy needs, and then some. In his Denver home he has built a solarium that yields bananas, papaya, passion fruit, loquats, grapes, and tomatoes. He captures sunlight, heat, and hot water, creating an indoor tropical micro-climate. He is not trying to defeat nature he is letting solar design work for him.

• Technology such as solar film, electron conducting solar paint, and multi-junction solar panels will equate to higher efficiency and less expensive sun energy. As our collective conscience shifts toward less polluting lifestyles, our governments are beginning to subsidize the development of solar technology, just as they have with nuclear energy for half a century. Take advantage of the subsidies in your state, and take part in the solar revolution.

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