Technological progress
and cultural challenges
The invention and development of modern solar technologies
began forty or fifty years ago. Tremendous progress
has been made, especially in the last decade. A great
number of solar, wind and biomass technologies for the
production of fuel, heat and electricity are now available
or close to commercialisation. They have been installed
on a significant scale in both developed and developing
countries. They are used in many different ways, stand-alone
or incorporated in conventional energy networks and
grids. They are already providing energy services to
individual homes, villages and cities.
However, if we are to move from examples to worldwide
applications of solar technologies in communities, cities,
islands and rural areas, society as a whole must be
interested and give its support. Solar energy infrastructure,
whether installed in remote rural areas in a developing
country or integrated in existing conventional infrastructure
in a city in the developed world, needs to be better
known and accepted.
If we want the use of solar energy to spread through
the technologically advanced world to the extent mentioned
above – 50% of world energy consumption by 2050 – we
will need to enroll many more solar scientists and engineers,
environmental scientists, entrepreneurs, financial experts,
publicists and architects. Above all, we will need many
more politicians and civil servants who know the subject
and are more courageous and determined. A new generation
of solar-energy pioneers has to be nurtured, especially
to work in local communities and industries.
Solar energy exists everywhere, but has a weaker concentration
of energy than fossil and nuclear sources. Using solar
energy can teach us how to establish a more balanced
relationship with nature. A new culture of energy efficiency
can lead to a more concerned, socially responsible use
of all natural resources. The use of solar energy –
a local resource – can contribute to the preservation
of local cultures and also promote new lifestyles and
new concepts of wealth, prosperity and security that
can help us all meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Cesare Silvi
International Solar Energy Society
Rome
SELECTED REFERENCES
(1) Paley Commission, Resources for Freedom, vol. IV,
The Promise of Technology: The Possibilities of Solar
Energy, Washington, D.C.: 1952;
(2) Tyner, Craig E., Gregory J. Kolb, Michael Geyer
and Manuel Romero: "Concentrating Solar Power in 2001,"
in An IEA/SolarPaces Summary of Present Status and Future
Prospects, January 2001;
(3) Perlin, John, From Space to Earth: The Story of
Solar Electricity, Ann Arbor: AATEC Publications, 1999;
(4) Van Campen, Bart, Daniele Guidi and Gustavo Best,
Solar Photovoltaics for Sustainable Agriculture and
Rural Development, Rome: FAO, 2000;
(5) Murphy, Pamela, "IEA Solar Heating & Cooling Programme,"
in Morse Associates Inc., 2000 Annual Report, 2001.
All
Links ...
