Hi guys!
How has your week been so far? Earlier this week I read, and shared, quite an interesting article by the Guardian about why solar energy has yet to make a proper impact on our lives. The main reasons for solar power not being adopted particularly in Europe and the U.K are provided by expert analysts who discussed both the business and geographical aspect of solar power.
One of the first problems discussed are the problem of adapting the national grid and the costs to adapt the national grids according the new technological advancements in solar power, there is clearly not a problem with the solar energy itself but rather the actual national grids are having to develop themselves in order to keep up with the rapid changes to solar energy. The cost to make changes to the infrastructure is one of the main hurdles in attempt to bring forth renewable energy as a main provider in our countries. Another problem mentioned was the actual ‘capacity power’ of solar; as “A coal power station runs at 70-80% capacity. In northern Europe, solar panel capacity factor is just 15%. ” For solar energy to work properly here in the U.K we would need to use the other forms of renewable energy; wind, tidal, geothermal, as is it clear that solar energy alone is not enough.
I genuinely believe there is not only a technical issue holding renewable energy back from being at the forefront of the market, but also a political problem of clean energy being a concern in the governments agenda. There seems to be a number of issues with solar energy in the U.K but, to me, that is not necessarily a negative thing; in order to make progress you have to solve and outline the problems instead of blindly focussing on the advantages of it. Now I have to admit, energy is not always the easiest topic to discuss simply because of the fact that it involves so much politics and technical jargon that it not always engaging to the everyday person which may be the main reason why it is a topic that many people of my age shy age away from. Energy is important to virtually all aspects of our present life and the future of energy is something that we need to pay close attention to, regardless of how off putting some of the language may be.
As always, I would love to know what your thoughts are on this never ending topic. Do you enjoy reading about clean energy? Is it something that particularly concerns you?