I think there at least should be a future in solar energy. I would like to see what real competition can do with the industry though rather than our govt. trying to force it to happen and only wasting tax payer dollars. I paid over $3,000 for my first PC with Windows 95! Look at what competition has done in the field of technology. I could buy the same computer now for $300 or less. I read somewhere where I have more technology in my smart phone than what was in the first capsules that took people to the moon. And my phone only cost me about 70 bucks! We need companies to be innovative and creative and come up with brilliant ways to harness the energy of the sun. I LOVE the idea of nobody owning the sun, so we don't have to fight over it. The whole mess in the middle east is in large part, due to the petrodollar and our need for energy (oil) although we have made some progress in becoming more energy independent in the last 10 years or so.
It is doing really well. The thing is, only a certain amount of hydroelectric dams can be built in natural locations. Not nearly enough to cover our energy needs, but it is a great addition to solar power as hydro is something we can regulate with almost 100% efficiency by opening the dams when we need electricity and closing it (and letting the water build up) when we have enough from other sources.
The sustainable energies will be worth more and more I believe as technology develops in the direction of extracting the most of them, at least that is my perception.
There are lots of hot deserts in the world. If governments were willing and ready to work with solar companies, they'd allocate them huge tracts of land in those deserts and it will be up to these companies to use that land however they please and supply the country with cheap, electricity generated from solar power. I believe nonetheless that oil companies currently conspire to suppress solar energy, related innovations and so on so that's the problem which has to be dealt with first before the world embraces solar energy as an alternative energy source.
Solar energy stories have been some of the biggest money makers and waste of spaces over the last decade. We all know the concept and appreciate the future global needs. But monetizing it has been a train wreck at times. Some names have been great, some of simply been pointless. At the end of the day, the big conglomerates like GE will tend to buy up the companies and technologies and monetize the theme properly. You could be lucky by picking the winners in the space, but be ready for the landmines of the stories that sound great but can't make money because of commoditized products coming out of China.
First of all, a very large majority of oil is used for fuel and industrial production. Less than 1% of the electricity generated in the USA comes from oil. So oil and solar power are really not competing against each other, except if you take into account electric cars. Then again, no matter where the electricity comes from, electric cars are already much cheaper than regular ones. Quite a few oil companies are actually building up their own portfolio of renewable energy related investments. For example Total is the majority shareholder in SunPower.
Well obviously that'll be the case. I think the million dollar question here is WHEN that's going to happen. In the next 5 years? Next decade? Even then, who's to say we would not have found an even better source by then?
