How much is an electron worth?
I’ve been staying inside a lot more this year because the weather in Pennsylvania has been mercurial. Frequent flash flood conditions, hazy skies from traveling wildfire smoke, sweltering heat in record breaking temperatures. I’m more familiar with the hum of central air conditioning than I’ve ever been, and my bank account has suffered for it. There’s a gas-fired turbine spinning somewhere that’s propelling electricity along miles of powerlines and into my home. And now that the Trump administration’s EPA has rescinded greenhouse gas regulations for power plants, that turbine is operating without what little emissions curbing was formerly in place.
Solar Power World is a media outlet that covers the technologies, people, policies and practices that define the U.S. solar photovoltaic market, but renewable energy sources are intrinsically tied to addressing the very real threat of climate change that we all face. We do not seek to create artificial controversy with what we write, and that isn’t my intention here. If we hope to maintain a livable planet for all of us, and wish to maintain the level of comfort that some of us can afford with climate-controlled homes, that isn’t possible without using renewable energy sources.
The problem is the cost of everything is seemingly rising, so who can be responsible for tamping it down? We tend to center the individual in these cases. Having solar installed on your home is an admirable and logical decision, and a couple years ago it was more feasible with federal incentives still intact. It still makes economic sense to go solar, but how much impact is a handful of kilowatts having when hyperscale data centers are materializing across the country and driving up the cost of electricity?
In a dream scenario, most homes and commercial buildings would be covered in solar modules paired with energy storage, and virtual power plant programs would enable us to be more resilient to frequent adverse weather; all solar panels fields would be standing on soil with native ground crop, flanked by beehives and other pollinators and tended by livestock that leave the land richer and more biodiverse than before it was installed; federal legislators would reinstate and bolster renewable energy incentives to make up for lost time.
We’re not there yet. Unfortunately, climate change is, and it’s only worsening.
As RE+ approaches, eyes will be drawn to towering solar modules and rotating steel trackers. These are the technologies making it possible address this threat, but we need so much more solar and other sustainable renewable energy resources replacing fossil fuels on the grid. I don’t have all the answers to how this can happen. I’m simply a journalist who is mostly watching your work from afar. However, while thousands of us gather in a city that is perhaps humanity’s greatest example of over consumption and decadence, there’s an opportunity to connect with each other and address this looming global threat. And, of course, we can still check out what’s on the show floor.
If you’d like a glimpse into what you’ll find this year at RE+, check out our preview section on the country’s largest solar trade show. We’ve also written about a range of topics in this issue, from the fine details of recycling different types of solar modules, to the microinverters making balcony solar possible.
I’m still honored to be part of this industry, and I hope to continue to have a part in sharing in its progress. See you in Las Vegas.
Billy Ludt, managing editor