Global Efforts for Solar Energy & Clean Energy Subsidies

Many nations are revitalizing efforts towards cleaner energy, namely solar power. Here is a brief look at what’s being done all over the globe to develop and implement solar energy resources.

The United States is working hard to put more into its solar energy efforts and growth in solar energy is beginning to take off in the nation. New technologies have been pivotal to this growth and companies are continuing to force the costs of this energy down so much so that some say the prices of this clean energy can compete with those made from fossil fuels. The solar resources in the American southwest including, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah are among the best in the world for large-scale solar power plants. Projects for solar energy production are largely focused in these areas for their high levels of direct normal insolation of sunlight.

Recently developed in India is Asia’s now largest solar park, Gujarat Solar Park surpassing China’s Golmud Solar Park. With the 1.1 billion inhabitants of the nation, this park is an important step towards decreasing low carbon growth. Gujarat Solar Park is capable of generating 600 MW of solar energy. It has brought new purpose to a wasteland which spanned across 3,000 acres of land bordering Rann of Kutchi. It is estimate that the new park will produce around 66% of India’s 900 MW solar power. Furthermore, it will aid in the reduction of CO2 emissions which is currently about 8 million tons and will save 9000,000 tons of natural gas every year.

Europe today is harnessing more solar power than the rest of the world combined. This is in large part due to changes in policy to fit the development and installation of photovoltaics. These policy changes and choices are mostly in the form of subsidies and binding targets, which Europe continues to meet. An exceptional amount of photovoltaics have been installed in nations throughout the continent and prices for solar panels are continually falling.

Antarctica would seem to be prime placement for solar panels; the number of inhabitants is low and at the height of summer, there is almost a full 24 hours of sunlight. However because it is dark for 6 months out of the year this theory is easily disproven. But that doesn’t mean that efforts aren’t being made to utilize solar energy there. Much research has gone into it and there have been plans to fit renewable energy resources to Antarctica’s polarizing seasons. It’s been proposed to use wind turbines to generate energy during the half year of darkness and solar panels for the other half of sunlight. Switching off between the two could prove to be very effective if given the proper support and funding.

The development of solar energy in African has done much to bring electricity, food, and water to rural and poorer parts of Africa. Many companies have set their sights on Africa to “test the viability—and marketability—of solar-powered systems to provide electricity for lighting and other purposes in villages all over Africa.” So far the installments of solar energy have changed the lives Africans who it has been made available to. Marketability is looking up and these big energy companies may potentially move in to further develop solar energy resources on the grand scale. Such investment would improve the lives of millions in African nations.

These are just a few broad looks at efforts to increase generation of solar energy around the global. Many nations are putting more into research and development as solar power continues to change the sphere of energy production.

Clean energy subsidies provide funding and incentives for companies to make a switch to cleaner forms of energy like wind and solar. Subsidies are on three levels: federal, state, and local. A combination of subsidies from all three has the potential to cover half of the cost of a renewable energy project. This decreases money lost on such a venture for a company that is trying to gauge marketability and effectiveness in an area. But the greatest and most important of these subsidies comes in the form of tax credits, both production and investment. Such incentives are not only reserved for companies, consumers can take advantage of them as well. For consumers, subsidies may be up to half of installation costs, giving them more reason to make the switch.

References

Eaton, John. “Solar Energy Brings Food, Water, and Light to West Africa.” National Geographic. 13 Mar 2012. Web. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/03/120314-solar-drip-irrigation-in-benin-africa/>.

Ebels, Philip. “Europe can be ‘proud’ of its solar energy policy.” EUobserver.com [Brussels] 09 Nov 2012. Web. <http://euobserver.com/solar-energy/117445>.

Espinoza, Javier. “Shedding Light on Subsidies: What incentives exist for renewables? And how exactly do hey work?” Wall Street Journal 17 Sep 2012, R6. Web. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443659204577575203384685874.html >.

“Gujarat Solar Park: Asia’s largest solar power park opens.” Economic Times [Ahmedabad] 19 Apr 2012. Web. <http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-04-19/news/31367545_1_gujarat-solar-park-solar-project-solar-power-policy>.

Harding, Dan. “Wind and Solar Energy Power Antarctic Research Stations.” CalFinder. 20 Jul 2010. Web. <http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/solar-research/wind-solar-antarctic-stations/>.

McGroarty, Patrick. “Power to More People.” Wall Street Journal [Lomshyo] 18 Jun 2012. Web. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203604577394963618998228.html>.

Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development. Tribal Energy and Environmental Information Clearinghouse. Solar Energy Resources in the United States. Web. <http://teeic.anl.gov/er/solar/restech/dist/index.cfm>.

“Solar Energy.” New York Times 11 Oct 2012. Web. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/solar-energy/index.html>.

Image:

White, Seth. POLENET. Scientists install a GPS station in the Whitmore Mountains during low temperatures and high winds.. 2012. The Antartic SunWeb. 29 Oct 2012. <http://antarcticsun.usap.gov/science/contenthandler.cfm?id=2615>.