General Electric confirmed a few days ago that, yes, it is going to start producing thin-film solar cells--a move that is expected to drive costs down and give industry leader First Solar a run for it. Renewable energy developments like this keep hitting the wires, but a recent conversation made me wonder just how green they really are.
Earlier this month I met a businessman at an event who said he wanted a solar power installation for the roof of his vacation home in the mountains, but he later admitted that the insulation was nearly nonexistent there. After briefly imagining how amazing it would be to have that kind of dilemma, I gently suggested that he consider improving the building envelope before investing in PV panels.
Penn State professor of agricultural and biological engineering Dennis Buffington takes this concept even further. He argues that, on the whole, renewable energy can't be green without energy conservation. "If you need less energy, you won’t need that last [PV] panel or two," he told me. "When we get to renewable energy, we’ll need less capital outlay to achieve that objective."
Buffington proposes an energy pyramid for green projects that has energy conservation at the bottom, then energy efficiency and energy demand, followed by renewable energy at the top. New projects should start at the base, he says. Sounds logical, right? But he admits that insulation doesn't have the attraction that solar panels do. I'm optimistic, though. Advanced home energy auditors now use infrared heat guns to find the gaps in your home, and the readouts can be as useful as they are amazing to look at.Photo: Workers install solar panels on a Wayne National Forest building in southeastern Ohio. Credit: Alex Snyder.
Tags: Energy Efficiency, Green Building, Green Tech, Green Your Electricity, Solar Power
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