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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Sunny future beckons

Are Tax Credits the Best Way To Drive Renewable Energy Investments?

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/reinsider/story?id=52181

While, this idea of requiring new construction to also finance RE systems to offset the ever expanding atmospheric carbon output is worth developing, the devil is in the details. That old "law of unintended consequences" could easily take the shine off the concept.

Personally, I am not sure that the market needs to be stimulated by mandates. I have lived utilizing solar energy in my home for 16 years. I am quite happy with my PV energy system, but I am very technically oriented and don't mind getting my hands dirty. What I glean from the experience is that no one to date, has developed integrated, modularized, no-maintenance energy appliances that are user friendly and cost-effective.

But it is not because it cannot be done. All of the elements of such a system have already been demonstrated, piecemeal, by small innovative companies. What's left to do is to gather the visionary investment required to integrate the innovations and thereby make this technology appropriate for non-technical users and available on a wide-spread basis. The company that does this will own the future, because right now there are hundreds of thousands of customers for such a system. They are easy to identify. They have a conscience and care about the future prospects of their children and grandchildren.