Solar Electric (PV) Growth
| Source: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/initiatives.html |
| U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program |
| Solar energy is very promising due to its impressive growth. According to solarbuzz.com, solar electric demand (photovoltaic) has grown consistently by 20-25 % each year over the past 20 years. Notice that the turnover point where market penetration becomes exponential occurs between 2012 and 2015. These numbers show that performance projections for this market in many future energy assessments are far too conservative. Such projections are usually based on past growth during the early phases of solar development that are not representative of the potential of a maturing market. |
| Source: http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/3528 |
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Our Energy Future in Wind and Solar |
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This chart shows the characteristic rise, peak and fall of fossil fuel production after 2020 due to production cost increases, depletion of resources and environmental constraints. The projected growth of the solar industry (which includes wind) is explosive after 2015. The rise of solar options becomes exponential as the technology matures and costs fall to levels below that of traditional energy sources. The early stages of this energy revolution are already in evidence with massive wind generation construction and utility solar thermal projects already underway. |
| Comparative Solar Availability |
| Source: Earth Energy Potential, March 28, 2008 |
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http://infinitystudies.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/malthus-applied- |
| to-human-energy-consumption/earth-energy-potential/ |
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The earth receives 174,000 terawatts (one terawatt equals 1 trillion watts), or 174 petawatts of energy from the sun at any given moment. The earth's surface recieves 89,000 terawatts of solar energy after passage through the atmosphere. This constitutes about 51% of the energy reaching the earth from the sun. An additional 370 terawatts is available from wind power. (wind is a form of solar energy) As large as this is, it is only about 2 hundredths of 1 percent (.02%) of the total . By comparison, the current energy consumption of the world is "only" 15 terawatts. It
is easy to see that humanity has only been tapping a tiny fraction
of the energy readily available to us. Once we convert to solar
in it's various forms, energy shortages will be found only in historical
records. |
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| Source: Solar PV Industry Outlook | |||
| http://www.semiconductor.net/article/CA6526670.html | |||
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