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M. Caitlin Harrison
Instructor: Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
April 2, 2015
The Future for Solar May Not Be as Bright as It Seems
A couple of months ago I received a calculator in the mail. It was one that I had ordered
online for a math class that only allowed one specific type. This special calculator was a one-line
display solar-powered device. As I sat in the living room examining it, I put my finger over the
small solar panel and watched the numbers on the display slowly fade away. I removed my
finger and the calculator quickly came back to life, soaking in the heat and light from the lamp
on the table next to me. I did this a couple times, fascinated by the mere concept of solar energy.
Questions were running wildly through my head. How is solar energy converted into other kinds
of energy? What happens to solar energy when its not being used? Most of all, if solar is so
great, why hasnt it replaced other energy sources that are more dangerous and harmful to the
environment?
Solar energy has become a major part of our everyday lives, whether we realize it or not.
Most people, when they hear solar energy, think about big, fancy, and expensive solar panels,
but thats not all solar energy consists of. Chances are, you use solar energy more than once or
twice in your everyday life without even knowing it. In a broad sense, solar energy has two
subcategories: active and passive. Active solar energy is what we always think of when we hear
about solar energy; it includes solar panels and lakes. Passive solar energy, on the other hand,
dates back to way before the discovery of photovoltaic cells. Passive solar energy is simply a
matter of placement and structure, using the sun to heat, cool, or light a building by constructing

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or orienting it a certain way. An example of passive solar energy is a building with big open
windows on the side that faces the sun most during the day, providing natural light and
heat(mass.gov.). This is the kind of solar energy we encounter every day without realizing it.
Both subdivisions of solar energy are interesting and unique, but in this essay I will focus
on active solar energy, specifically solar panels. Passive solar energy isnt really an area of
concern for most people; the sun will continue to rise and set every day and when it has stopped,
we wont be here to see it. Active solar energy, in contrast, is oftentimes unreliable; and while it
may continue to grow as an industry, it will most likely never be reliable or accessible enough to
replace fossil fuels or coal and provide energy independently.
First, in a discussion of such a scientific topic, it is necessary to define and explain basic
terminology. The structure of a solar panel is a good starting place. In a solar panel there are
hundreds of thousands of little photovoltaic cells. A photovoltaic cell is one that converts light
energy into electrical energy. These cells are grouped together and paired with some other
materials that protect and wire the panels together in order to produce a photovoltaic module, or
something that is more commonly referred to as a solar panel (Energy.gov). There are also other
methods of active solar energy such as lakes, which are heated by the sun and then the heat in the
water is used to create electrical energy, but solar panels are the most common method.
Solar panels are considered by many to be one of the most promising scientific
discoveries and developments of the past few decades. With the discovery of the photovoltaic
cell and the development of solar technology to accompany it, the future for clean and renewable
energy appears to be very bright. SEIA.org, the official website of Solar Energy Industries
Association, brags that 36% of all new electric capacity installed in 2014 has come from solar.
John Teresko, an author for Industry Week, says that the solar energy field is growing so much

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that businesses who inspect and approve solar products are getting backed up. More people are
using solar now than ever before. This certainly seems promising for the future of the solar
industry.
On the other hand, many people are also expressing concerns for the solar industry. Todd
Woody writes in his article for the New York Times about a number of solar panels failing just
shortly after being installed. According to the article, the solar industry is facing a major quality
crisis at an inconvenient time, seeing as solar power is becoming more and more popular every
day. Corners are being cut somewhere in the production process, resulting in billions of dollars
worth of defects. Solar production seems to be so expensive that people are trying, and failing, to
find ways to reduce costs.
So just how much does solar production cost, exactly? Are these producers who are
cutting corners justified in their desire to bring costs down? According to the SEIA, the price of
solar systems have recently plummeted due to increased production. As more systems are being
installed in the United States, the costs for these systems are decreasing dramatically (see fig. 1).
The following chart shows the weighted average system price in contrast with the annual
photovoltaic installations. It is clear that as production goes up, price comes down. According to
an article written by Christopher Helman for Forbes, solar production cost is closing in on
equality in price with coal. From the looks of it, solar is becoming a very good candidate for
cheaper and cleaner energy.

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Figure 1. U.S. P.V. Installation and Average System Price

Source: SEIA.org, Solar Energies Association, n.d., Web, 9 Mar. 2015, figure 2.1.
But maybe its not as good of a candidate as it seems for replacing coal and fossil fuels,
two of the leading energy producers in the world. According to the same article by Christopher
Helman, solar energy makes up less than 1 quadrillion out of the total 96.5 quadrillion Btu, a unit
of energy, we use annually. In his article, Christopher Helman examines the possibility of
replacing coal, an energy source that is harmful to our environment, with solar energy and
natural gas.
Paired with the only reasonable growth possibility in natural gas, solar alone would have
to increase about six-fold to around 50,000 megawatthours per year. Achieving that would
require 20% compound annual growth in solar installations for 10 years (Helman, 2014). In
other words, solar usage would have to increase by 20% every year for the next 10 years, and
that would be a substantial amount of growth to put it lightly. This, according to Christopher
Helman, is possible for only a very short amount of time. As solar usage increases, it becomes
harder and harder to keep a steady rate of 20% growth every year. He also states that, ironically,

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if we ever were to cut out coal and replace it with natural gas and solar, the price of coal would
steadily decrease, making it a more appealing energy source.
Armond Cohen, the executive director of Clean Air Task Force, writes an article about
how important and even central coal will be for our world in the future. He states that the major
global competitors to coal gas, wind, solar, nuclear, and energy efficiency are likely to gain
ground but not seriously challenge coals market share for some time. The fact is, we do not
have enough solar resources to use it to replace major energy contributors any time soon.
This brings us to another problem with solar energy. Many have recently expressed
concerns for pollution that solar energy might be causing. According to energyinformative.org,
some production processes are linked to the emission of greenhouse gasses. The gasses that are
leaked, nitrogen triflouride and sulfur hexafluoride are very potent gasses and have many
thousand times the impact on global warming compared to carbon dioxide.
An article by Ariana Eunjung Cha for The Washington Post explains the negative effects
solar panel production is having on China. A major product used to create solar panels,
polysilicon, has a byproduct of silicon tetrachloride. This, when poured on or in the ground
makes the land completely infertile. It is poisonous and polluting, and humans cannot touch it.
Unfortunately, pouring the substance on the ground tends to be the preferred method of disposal.
The product can be recycled and some countries are doing this, but it is expensive and as China
races to keep up with industrial growth it simply isnt getting done. This danger links back to the
quality crisis China is having in solar panel productions. It is possible that solar is growing too
fast for its own good.

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Another glaring problem with solar energy is that it is only available in the sun.
Unfortunately, scientists have not yet discovered an effective way to store solar energy so that it
can provide during night hours or on cloudy days. Recent research has produced the prospect of
battery storage for solar energy. A Washington Post article written by Brian Fung states that with
this storage method, solar energy charges the batteries during sunny hours so that they can
produce energy when there is no longer any sun. This idea is still in development, though, and is
not yet available on the market. Unfortunately, energyinformative.org tells us that this storage of
solar energy is expensive.
Additionally, while solar energy is growing rapidly, scientists are still struggling to find
any way to efficiently collect a significant amount of solar energy. Solar panels are typically only
about 11-15% efficient, according to Pureenergies.com. This means they can only collect a
measly percentage of the inexhaustible amount of heat and light energy the sun puts out each
day. This goes hand in hand with the space issue of solar energy. Solar obviously requires
surface area to capture the optimal amount of sun. This creates a need for space if you want to
produce a significant amount of solar energy (energyinformative.org). Apartment buildings in
cities would have trouble fulfilling this requirement for solar.
Now, lets examine the arguments for solar energy in comparison with the arguments
against solar energy. Many argue that solar is inexhaustible and renewable, but that does little for
solar energy when storage is so rare and expensive. It is also argued that solar energy is abundant
because it produces enough energy to supply all our needs, but if we cannot harness that energy
what good does abundance do? Finally, there are arguments that solar energy is a good energy
source because it reduces electricity costs, but costs are only cut when solar is used for an

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extended amount of time. Initially, solar is a pretty serious investment, especially when using
battery storage (energyinformative.org).
So, where does all this research and conversation leave solar standing today? There are
four major components every good energy source needs: reliability, accessibility, affordability,
and environmental friendliness. When these four come together in perfect harmony, we have a
perfect energy source. But no energy source is perfect. While oil is a nice candidate, it is
becoming difficult to access and getting to it is often dangerous for the environment. Coal,
however, is accessible, cheap, and reliable, but it is frowned upon due to its negative effects on
our environment. Solar energy has trouble fulfilling any of these requirements apart from
environmental friendliness. Solar panels are often unreliable and stop working long before they
should. Whats more, the sun is not always accessible, and it cannot be stored to provide energy
during nights and cloudy days. Solar energy is, luckily, lowering in price, but is still no cheaper
than fossil fuels or coal, and if you want to store it to use it at the night and on cloudy days, it
will cost substantially more than fossil fuels.
This, unfortunately, leaves solar energy standing in the background, in the shadows of
major energy contributors such as fossil fuels and coal. While we all have high hopes for solar, it
simply does not present itself as a better, or even equal, alternative to our bigger energy
contributors. Sure, solar energy looks promising and will undoubtedly continue to grow in
popularity over the upcoming years. But, sadly, solar energy has little hope in the future of
becoming the spotlight of our energy consumption.
I hope my title isnt too harsh in implying that solar energy has a hopeless future. Instead,
I intend only to raise concerns and awareness for the dangers of a society becoming too
dependent on solar power. Yes, solar energy has a light at the end of the tunnel: that it will

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continue to grow and blossom into a fantastic alternative energy source. But thats just it. Solar
energy can be nothing but alternative. The moment we begin to think that our world can function
on clean and renewable energy alone is the moment we are in danger.
This, unfortunately, is the problem our solar industry faces today. People are too hopeful
and excited about the prospect of solar energy. With such rapid growth there has been little time
for production to catch up, resulting in the major quality crises and environmental issues that are
happening in solar production around the world. We need to slow solar down. It has a promising
future, of course, but it truly has little hope of replacing major energy contributors so we need to
slow it down and get it right before solar energy causes more harm than good.

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Works Cited
About Solar Energy: Passive Solar, Solar Thermal, and Phtovoltaic. Mass.gov. Executive
Office of Energy and Environmental Affair, n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Solar Energy Pros and Cons. Energyinformative.org. Energy Informative, n.d. Web. 20 Apr.
2015.
Cha, Ariana Eunjung. Solar Energy Firms Leave Waste Behind in China. The Washington
Post. The Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2008. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Cohen, Armond. Mission Possible: An Environmentalist Looks at Coal and Climate.
PennEnergy. PennEnergy, 30 Dec. 2013. 1 Apr. 2015.
Energy.gov. U.S. Department of Energy, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
Fung, Brian. This new Tesla battery will power your home, and maybe the electric grid too.
The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.
Helman, Christopher. Solar Power Is Booming, But Will Never Replace Coal. Heres Why.
Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 24 Apr. 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
Pureenergies.com. Pure Energies Group, n.d. Web. 1 Apr. 2015.
SEIA.org. Solar Energy Industries Association, n. d. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
Teresko, John. The Future Is Bring for Solar Energy. Industry Week 258.1 (2009): n. pag.
Web. 9 Mar. 2015.
Woody, Todd. Solar Industry Anxious Over Defective Panels. The New York Times. The New
York Times, 28 May 2013. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.