Summer Solstice Celebration
As Americans prepare to enjoy the longest day of the year on Sunday, June 21 during the summer solstice, Applied Materials, a leading supplier of solar manufacturing equipment, has released a survey reflecting the general public's understanding and opinions about solar energy. The findings indicate that a majority of people surveyed believe in the potential of solar technology and want the U.S. government and utilities to do more to speed its adoption, although some have outdated views.
“The summer solstice is a good time to celebrate the unique power of the sun,” said Dr. Charles Gay, president of Applied Solar. “Applied Materials is working to build a better understanding of how solar technology can provide the country with energy that is efficient, beneficial and now cost-competitive for peak usage in specific regions.”
According to the survey, Americans are calling for more solar energy and faster integration of renewable power into the U.S. energy mix:
Half of the peoplesurveyed (50%) think the U.S. Government's goal to have 25% of its powergenerated by renewable energy by 2025 is too slow.
Four out of five(81%) agree that solar energy should play a greater role in meeting ournation's energy needs in the next five years.
More than two-thirds(68%) think utilities should include solar electricity as a part of theirenergy generation.
Just over half (52%)would be willing to pay more per month if their utility company increased itsuse of renewable energy. But many consumers (41%) would not be willing to paymore, demonstrating the important role that government incentives, to bringdown solar costs, will have on advancement of the technology.
“Applied Materials'solar energy strategy is to bring significant change to the solar industry byenabling lower cost-per-watt solutions for solar photovoltaic (PV) cellmanufacturing,” said Gay. “Our goal is to make solar energy a more meaningfulcontributor to the global energy supply.”
One important stepto meeting the company's goal is to help educate the public about the truepotential of solar energy and refute common myths about the sun as an energysource.
The survey alsoshowed that Americans overestimate the amount of solar energy used in thiscountry. One in five people stated that 20% or more of our energy comes fromsolar power. But solar energy accounts for less than 0.01% of U.S. energy generation, even though solar isalready cost-competitive with fossil fuels for peak demand in such places as Hawaii, California and New York.
Anothermisconception held by over half of the persons surveyed is that solar panelinstallations on homes are the most efficient way to harness solar energy. Infact, “solar farms” represent an underutilized source for solar energy. The United Statescould supply its entire energy needs by covering just 1.6% of its land areawith solar cells. In fact, putting solar cells on 1% of the area of globaldeserts would be sufficient to produce electricity for all the people in theworld. Germany and Spain lead the world in solarenergy use, thanks to the revolutionary effect of government incentives. Butone in four people surveyed believe that the U.S. is the world leader. Policychanges at the federal, state and local level can help the United Statesassume more of a leadership role in solar energy use. Applied Materials,headquartered in the Silicon Valley, has the nanomanufacturing technology andcapabilities to accelerate the growth of the United States solar market. Asingle Applied SunFab™ tandem junction thin film line can produce enough panelsto generate 80 MW of electricity each year, or enough to power over 35,000homes during peak hours. In addition to the environmental benefits, a solarfactory containing one SunFab line has the potential to generate an estimated$2 billion of economic development and create over 2,500 local jobs over five production years, according to an independent analysis.
