October 19th, 2008

If one was to ask the general public their opinion of which alternate form of energy will be the world's main replacement for oil, the most popular response would probably be solar energy. The concept of solar panels capturing sunlight and converting it into tangible energy for humans has enthralled the minds of the public since it was introduced, but the truth is that solar energy provided less than .01 percent of America's electricity grid. The predictions for solar energy's contribution is twenty to thirty years is maybe 2 to 3 percent. All of these alternate energy sources receive funding from charitable contributors but the great majority of their moneys come from Federal funding. Solar Energy is one of the least funded of the energy sources being developed and therefore its standing is hurt exponentially. It already is considered a weak candidate as a main replacement because of the sole fact that its output is just too low. The amount of solar panels that would have to be constructed to even consider powering the entire U.S. is an inconceivable number that is keeping the concept of solar energy from becoming a possibility as a replacement for oil. Incentives in Germany, Japan, and America have propelled the sales of the silicon panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity via photovoltaic cells.