Seven Generational Ruminations

Solar Energy: Saved by the Sun is a PBS documentary (a Nova episode) covering the solar energy industry, developments in solar technology, and generally presenting solar energy in a very positive and with a, uh, bright future. The documentary doesn't go into great depth but has great information in it. Interviewees include two members of the German Parliament, the Director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Amory Lovins, several people who have installed solar systems in their houses, farms or businesses.

NOVA: Solar Energy - Saved by the Sun asin: B000PWQPAW

"Clearly, the world needs a massive amount of carbon-free electricity by 2050 to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions." This is the key of a salon.com article discussing a specific form of energy technology that could very well make a huge difference to our world. Basically, to solve for global warming requires getting to an energy which doesn't have, as a side effect, to cause global warming.

There are many alternative energy technologies which could do this to some extent but might not work so well. For example wind power only produces electricity when the wind is blowing..

Applied Materials is a major supplier of equipment to the semiconductor industry. In many ways the innovations by Applied Materials enables the rest of the semiconductor industry to continue moving forward. In any case they have made a series of acquisitions of companies specializing in solar power manufacturing tools. The latest is Baccini, a European company specializing in manufacturing tools.

The story is that a company, Solar Electrical Vehicles, has developed a solar panel based charging system for hybrid vehicles. This causes dancing visions of being able to drive for free, anywhere you want, thumb your nose at OPEC, because the Sun powers your life.

There is a lot of new investment and research and product development in clean energy technology in Silicon Valley.

Cleantech Venture Network, an industry trade group, estimates that clean energy investment in Silicon Valley topped $500 million last year, including not just venture capital but also corporate and some debt financing.