How solar and wind can dominate

The solar and wind industries share the same end goal of cleaner energy production worldwide – but each deploys vastly different technologies and methods to get there. How did each industry gain its following?

Let's take a look.

Solar photovoltaic cells can be installed at any scale and made to work anywhere there is sunlight. Indeed, they can be built into the actual device that uses the electricity. On my desk, there is a solar-powered calculator, and overhead there are satellites powered by solar panels.

Since solar is an easily distributed technology, it is becoming common across communities and is highly visible. Most people either have a personal experience with solar or know someone who does. When the positive experience of lowering power bills or generating green electricity is shared, public opinion is affected. That's valuable political capital.

Wind turbines are very different. No wind turbine will ever directly power a wristwatch or generate electricity on Mars. Turbines deploy mechanical energy to drive electric generators. Wind farms require significant amounts of upfront capital, and must be built in particular localities, where there is a rich wind resource. Typically, this meant putting groups of many turbines together in rural or offshore locations.

For wind, the best way to gain political capital is for communities to literally invest in the technology and the outcome. In its purest form, this means community-owned wind cooperatives. This helps broaden and localise ownership of wind generators. The Danes are leaders in this area, with three-quarters of their wind turbine assets held not by corporations, but by farmers, locals and co-operatives.

At Hepburn Wind, Australia's first community-owned generator, where I am a director, our locals are very engaged in what we do. Each of our two 2.05 MW turbines generate $15,000 (indexed annually) for a community fund, which is allocated to diverse, local, voluntary projects, which in turn strengthens our relationship with the community. The benefits of wind truly come full circle.

In sum, the seemingly wildfire spread of solar – driven primarily by accessibility and affordability of its technology – gives it power in the market of popular opinion. The advocacy solution for the sector is to continue to mobilise its vast consumer base into an electoral base: A solar nation loyal to green energy.

The solution for wind is to build its own support base, in wind regions, through local community ownership. Wind ownership does not need to become as widespread as solar's in order to be politically powerful, because the population that matters is the community in the immediate, local vicinity.

What will help with uptake is that the standard windmill design is being continually refined; every time a bigger model is deployed, it proves itself reliable and even more cost effective. People are now talking about 15MW wind turbines – that's 15,000,000 watts of capacity in a single structure.

On November 18 this year, the World Bank issued a report about climate change that reminds us how important solar and wind are for our future. Despite the clear facts presented by climate scientists for 20 years and echoed by the World Bank, coal and conventional utilities continue to dominate the energy market. They leverage this economic power for political influence, preventing action on climate change.

If we can build the social capital of solar and wind, in ways that suit these very different technologies, then we have the power to build a cleaner, greener world for all.  

Dan Cass started Dan Cass & Co in 2010 to provide lobbying and campaign services to renewable energy firms. He is a Director of Hepburn Wind, Australia's first community-owned wind farm.

This article originally appeared on the Suntech blog. Reproduced with the permission of the author.