President Jimmy Carter first shined the light on solar panels for many Americans. In 1977, he installed them on the White House and provided incentives for solar energy companies. A year later, solar panels popped up on calculators, prompting legions of children to cover their fingers over the panels to magically turn on and off their electronic abacuses.
At that time, world production of photovoltaic cells exceeded 500 kW, or about enough energy to power a home for several weeks.
Despite the somewhat limited productions, panels started popping up on houses. But the technology didn’t develop fast enough for power-hungry consumers. President Ronald Reagan removed the panels from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. a decade later, and ones that remained on homes baked in the sunlight without producing any noticeable benefits.
Solar technology has come a long way since those days. Its efficiency is light years ahead of where it was 30 years ago. Schools, governments and other businesses are readily embracing it to help power their establishments and warm their water, even as traditional utilities companies are still trying to figure out how to integrate solar into their power grids.
South Carolina appears to be on the verge of moving a bill through that is intended to make the use of solar power more accessible for homeowners, businesses and schools.
The legislation would make it easier for solar companies to lease sun panels to people at what solar backers say will be more affordable prices. Other states have adopted similar measures, as the upfront costs to installing a solar panel system — in the neighborhood of $20,000 per home — has been a deterrent.
In addition, the bill would raise a cap that limits the use of sun panels that are hooked to a utility’s power grid. The cap will rise from 100 kilowatts to 1 megawatt.
South Carolina has been slow to adopt alternative energy sources, in part because the state remains a leader in nuclear power. Roughly half of the state’s electrical power needs are already furnished by the state’s four nuclear plants, including the H.B. Robinson Plant in Hartsville.
We all know that nuclear peril is a very real thing. The human cost from the 1986 Chernobyl event in Belarus is still being calculated. Solar, meanwhile, is safe. It is renewable, unlike the finite amount of coal, oil and natural gas on the planet. It also doesn’t create deadly nuclear waste.
The appeal of solar energy cannot be ignored. But neither should it be overstated. Even with its advances, solar is still a bit in the distance, as are its other green brethren. Even the rosiest projections for wind, solar, geothermal and other more-appealing energy sources do not show them making any appreciable dent in our nation’s growing appetite for energy.
The most efficient solar cells convert approximately 40 percent of sunshine to energy, and many fall below that threshold. And what about when the sun goes down? South Carolinians surely want that air conditioning to continue running through those summer storms.
For the time being, nuclear is still the best alternative to fossil fuels when it comes to power generation. Nuclear is “clean” in terms of point-of-generation pollution, it is relatively cheap and it depends upon a plentiful resource that’s readily available in, or to, the United States.
But we are glad to see South Carolina getting behind solar, and with what appears to be support from utilities, consumer watch agencies and conservation groups. That’s key. The state had garnered a rap of not being friendly to green energy, primarily because of the resistance from power companies and the state’s continued emphasis on nuclear energy.
Solar wasn’t ready for prime time in 1977. But in 2027? It might very well be, so the state needs to be helping its residents and businesses with those transitions now.
Supplementing the nation’s power grid is a very real need, and more efforts to incorporate green, renewable sources are a step in the right direction for South Carolina.
Unsigned editorials represent the views of this newspaper. Editorial board members are: Stephen Wade (regional publisher), Don Kausler Jr. (regional editor), Kimberly Brauss (online editor), Matt Tate (news editor) and David Johnson (regional circulation director).
EDITORIAL: Forecast for solar power looks sunny
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