Up on the Housetop there's a Lot of Electricity

Solar energy is mocked, of course. After all, is it not true that when the sun goes down, the lights go out? -- if you are on solar, that is.

But, do not underestimate the power of the sun. Let's start just with rooftop solar, alone. You've probably got in your head that sticking small solar panels on housetops just won't work. There's not too much room up there on those housetops.  And, those panels can detract from the beauty of the home. 

Well, leave your neighborhood and take a drive through an industrial park. Warehouses, production sites. Large, spacious buildings. There's a lot of room for solar up there. And, pretty? No one worries too much about pretty in an industrial park, but since the buildings tend to be flattop, the rooftops are out of view, just the same.

Okay, here's the thing, and I'll quote from CleanTechnica to make the point: "If fully utilized, they (rooftop solar) could generate 25 percent of all the electricity used in commercial building in the United States and about 10 percent of all electricity generated in America."

Yeah, that's it -- by its little, lonesome self, rooftop solar could knock out 10 percent of all our electricity needs.

And, that study might be a shortchange -- by a long shot. Elsewhere, in another study, we are told -- ahem -- that if we utilized all the rooftop space in the world, it would amount to the the size of the United Kingdom. And would, in the words of the Forbes article, provide "more than the combined electricity consumption of the world in 2018." 

In theory. 

There's that word again. But theories don't work on a football field, only hard hitting does. Being practical, there's no way you are going to utilize all the space up on the rooftop.

The point is, though, that a large chunk of our electricity needs can be provided by rooftop solar, alone. 

But, remember, we are not here to talk about rooftop alone. What about all our energy needs? Turn back to that CleanTechnica article, and it says, solar power "could supply all the electricity the world needs forever."

Remember that famous argument between Elon Musk and Bill Gates? Musk suggested that if we placed solar panels on a piece of land just 100 miles by 100 miles, it would supply enough electricity for all of America's needs. Gates felt differently. He called solar "cute," but said the answer to our energy needs was really nuclear. 

Musk won, kind off. It turns out he only took into account the space for the panels, themselves, not the access and service ways to serve them. Once that was added, it would take 1.6 percent of America's land space to be dedicated to solar. 

But, if we go as heavy on rooftop solar as we can, the whole thing becomes very workable.

Now, there is that little matter of the sun only being up when the sun is up. No energy is produced at night, right? Haven't you heard? Someone invented batteries. Let's not throw that invention away.

Nor should we forget that in escaping the fossil fuel dynasty, we don't need to rely solely on solar. Wind, water, and thermal are willing to step onto our football field -- we did call it a football field -- and take a lateral pass in for the touchdown.

(Index -- climate change)