Challenges for The Solar Energy Industry and How We Can Overcome Them

Hello! I’m still Sergey Fedorov, and this is the promised follow-up article on what’s happening in the solar energy market.

The cheapest energy in history and green on top of it, solar may soon be everywhere — but only if it overcomes the challenges it faced.

As promised, in this article I’m going to talk about the obstacles on the way.

The Earth's temperature has been slowly rising. A few last summers made it apparent. Scientists blame human activity — primarily the burning of fossil fuels. Green energy and solar in particular is a way to fight global warming. But until recently many politicians and scientists have denied climate change and some still do. This stalls the shift from fossil fuels  to renewables. 

The solar energy industry in particular still doesn’t get proper recognition from the state and society. The legal procedure for installing solar panels can be unnecessarily complicated — or there might not be a procedure at all. In the United States, HOAs in some states sometimes ban home solar system projects simply because they don’t understand the point of it.  

We need to popularize the idea of a green energy switch so that both citizens and politicians understand why it’s important and how it is going to help us combat climate change. We should also simplify and streamline the process of installing solar systems, approving them, and getting incentives at the legislative level. 

This image was generated by HackerNoon's AI Image Generator via the prompt "a power grid".

A particular challenge for the solar industry is old electrical infrastructure. The outdated electric grids aren’t designed for the fluctuating loads that solar systems put on the grid. Some of them are only designed for a one-way energy flow — from a utility company to a consumer. Home solar systems require two-way current flow because solar owners want to sell their excess energy into the grid.

This is why, with how popular solar and wind systems get, we must invest resources in smart grids and tools that are capable of measuring and regulating the constant inflow and outflow of energy. For example, in the US the DOE recently put up a $600,000 prize for the best tool to forecast the net load. In the long run, this project will help grid operators distribute their resources more efficiently.

In 2022 the renewable sector received just as much financial support as fossil fuels for the first time in history, according to Bloomberg. The global investment in clean energy has reached $1.1 trillion. Still, a large amount of investments goes into the fossil fuel sector, while it could be redirected into renewables. To achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, we should triple the investments in green energy.

One of the most pressing issues that subsidies should help to solve is recycling old panels. With enough financial support, we could make manufacturers control this process. In the EU, similar rules already apply: manufacturers must maintain the equipment as well as recycle it. In the US, only the state of Washington DC has such a requirement and it will only take effect in 2025.

Recently, WSJ reported that China intends to impose restrictions on the materials used to produce silicon ingots and silicon wafers - key components of solar panels. China produces around 80% of crystalline silicon and about half of the global supply of solar panels and their components. When a major supplier makes a move like that, it has a major impact on the development of the solar industry all across the globe.

To ensure the steady development of green energy, we should find ways to consistently supply manufacturers with materials for solar panels, wind turbines, power grids, electric vehicles and energy storage. For this, we must improve our supply chains and cooperation between countries. It’s not easy, but if we want to succeed, we must learn to work together.

Global demand for solar power could grow by 20-30% in 2023, after growing by 40% in 2022, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. And this is indeed a positive forecast. But in order to maintain the growth rate, we still need to learn how to optimize renewable energy projects and stimulate investment from both the public and private sectors. We need strong policies, government support and international cooperation inspired by a common idea of a green switch. If — or should I say when — we overcome the challenges, then a bright future of cheap energy without carbon emissions can become a reality. 

The lead image for this article was generated by HackerNoon's AI Image Generator via the prompt a building made out of solar panels"