Let the sun shine
A solar Philly?
By Vance Lehmkuhl
Philadelphia Daily News, August 13, 2009
With all the headlines about 'sexy' developments in electric cars (that may or may not get 230 MPG), wind farms and bamboo clothing, it's easy to overlook the granddaddy of green ideas, one that continues, under the radar, to carry a great deal of renewable weight: Solar.
After all, solar power has been around forever (at least as far as humans are concerned) and technologies to convert it to electricity date back more than half a century. Because of this, it's easy to lose sight of the steady progress occurring in this realm. But progress is certainly happening, as photovaltic and other systems are tweaked, refined and improved for greater output. In fact, we may be reaching a tipping point where solar energy collection quietly goes from wacky "eco" industry to a mainstream part of our lives.
Just this week in Califronia (natch) ESolar launched Sierra SunTower, the first operational solar tower energy plant in the United States: Hundreds of mirrors arrayed in a field follow the progress of the sun at such an angle as to reflect its rays into a tower in the middle of the field, boiling water into steam that travels through pipes to power a turbine and create electricity, as explained in this LA Times story. The facility will power 4,000 homes.
And across the country retailers and other businesses are rushing to install solar systems on their brick-and-mortar big boxes in order to "green" their operations (and, of course, their public profile). Wal-Mart, JC Penney, the Gap and FedEx Ground are some of the companies now in competition to be the sunniest businesses on the planet.
Meanwhile, here in Phillly, a new initiative could make residential solar panels as common as satellite dishes, front stoops and "Phillies World Champions" flags. The Philly Free Solar Program aims to outfit thousands of area homes with solar panels at virtually no cost to the homeowner. The ambitious plan put together by Green and Save (a philly.com Green partner) initially sought, by word of mouth, 100 applicants with flat roofs and good sun exposure. The pilot program filled slots so quickly that it's now expanding, up to 5,000 homes.
Green and Save president Charlie Szoradi (whom you may remember from this E2P post, and whom I remember from our days in Philly's Dumpster Divers) believes the time is right for solar to make a big splash, er, sunburst in our town. "For a long time," he explained yesterday, "people resisted the aesthetics of a big shiny panel on their roof. And the financing was not in place to make it appealing. But once those numbers start to work, and it becomes a reality, there's an actual pride in having the technology and that drives the appeal and changes the aesthetic value."
"When it comes to row homes," he continued, "its moot, because panels are only really seen by air as you approach the city. Now, I think it would be tremendous, from a public perception standpoint, to fly in to Philadelphia and see whole neighborhoods generating power - that would be a great symbol of Philly truly becoming 'the greenest city in America.'"
After all, solar power has been around forever (at least as far as humans are concerned) and technologies to convert it to electricity date back more than half a century. Because of this, it's easy to lose sight of the steady progress occurring in this realm. But progress is certainly happening, as photovaltic and other systems are tweaked, refined and improved for greater output. In fact, we may be reaching a tipping point where solar energy collection quietly goes from wacky "eco" industry to a mainstream part of our lives.
Just this week in Califronia (natch) ESolar launched Sierra SunTower, the first operational solar tower energy plant in the United States: Hundreds of mirrors arrayed in a field follow the progress of the sun at such an angle as to reflect its rays into a tower in the middle of the field, boiling water into steam that travels through pipes to power a turbine and create electricity, as explained in this LA Times story. The facility will power 4,000 homes.
And across the country retailers and other businesses are rushing to install solar systems on their brick-and-mortar big boxes in order to "green" their operations (and, of course, their public profile). Wal-Mart, JC Penney, the Gap and FedEx Ground are some of the companies now in competition to be the sunniest businesses on the planet.
Meanwhile, here in Phillly, a new initiative could make residential solar panels as common as satellite dishes, front stoops and "Phillies World Champions" flags. The Philly Free Solar Program aims to outfit thousands of area homes with solar panels at virtually no cost to the homeowner. The ambitious plan put together by Green and Save (a philly.com Green partner) initially sought, by word of mouth, 100 applicants with flat roofs and good sun exposure. The pilot program filled slots so quickly that it's now expanding, up to 5,000 homes.
Green and Save president Charlie Szoradi (whom you may remember from this E2P post, and whom I remember from our days in Philly's Dumpster Divers) believes the time is right for solar to make a big splash, er, sunburst in our town. "For a long time," he explained yesterday, "people resisted the aesthetics of a big shiny panel on their roof. And the financing was not in place to make it appealing. But once those numbers start to work, and it becomes a reality, there's an actual pride in having the technology and that drives the appeal and changes the aesthetic value."
"When it comes to row homes," he continued, "its moot, because panels are only really seen by air as you approach the city. Now, I think it would be tremendous, from a public perception standpoint, to fly in to Philadelphia and see whole neighborhoods generating power - that would be a great symbol of Philly truly becoming 'the greenest city in America.'"