Solar Power in Texas : Boom soon ? (Austin, Tyler: neighborhood, to buy, utilities)

[Wonderful Jellal]

Texas Moves to Foster Solar Power

A Wall Street Journal article about that :
Texas Moves to Foster Solar Power - WSJ.com

We know Texas "owns" more sun than other US states, so the potential is ENORMOUS.But for the moment California is so far the real leader in solar power, many jobs will be created in California in solar energy.Texas must begin NOW to develop its solar power, it's in the right way
Texas can be a leader in solar power, it's the leader of wind power after all, and Texas economy benefits of wind power with many jobs and investments

[shoe01]

I've read that hailstorms (we get a lot of those) might be a problem for that. Some commercial buildings have solar panels on their roofs here, though.

[diablo234]

Colorado gets hailstorms too yet that has not stopped the Denver airport from building a Solar Farm on the airport property.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by diablo234

Colorado gets hailstorms too yet that has not stopped the Denver airport from building a Solar Farm on the airport property.

Ground-based solar arrays are hideous. We already have tons of buildings, commercial and residential, that are just begging for solar shingles.

I saw an article on CNN.com about a team of engineers at MIT who have developed a way to "print" solar cells on plain paper. The process is in its infancy and the cells are highly inefficient but it may one day lead to ultra cheap, thin, lightweight solar cells that can merely be stapled to a wall.

[Philip T]

We are doing mirrors -- Solar Thermal.

Very Cheap and produces heat for other purposes as well as electricity, such as heat, hot water, air conditioning and process heat -- all of which are much larger energy users than is required for/by electricity, itself.

Present study is to compare the radiant barrier effect of mirrors above a building / structure. If a mirror array can effectively "shadow" and protect against Summer radiant heat on a building below it -- It is pretty much a total "Go."

Nice part is it can all be produced, built/installed and serviced here in Texas with minimal capital and little "high-tech" skills.

[Metro Matt]

I predict as this technology becomes more prevalent in day to day use, the costs will come down tremendously. Its already starting to catch on in the lighting industry & has tons of potential there. We even have a few of those solar powered stop lights here in little ole Tyler, Tx.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Originally Posted by metro matt

i predict as this technology becomes more prevalent in day to day use, the costs will come down tremendously. Its already starting to catch on in the lighting industry & has tons of potential there. We even have a few of those solar powered stop lights here in little ole tyler, tx.

+1

[Wonderful Jellal]

Other news about that ?

[Wonderful Jellal]

I found this :

Three steps are needed to create a solar boom in Texas

March 30, 2010 by cgeiger1303

In Michael Webber’s Op Ed (http://texasvox.org/2010/03/30/three-steps-are-needed-to-create-a-solar-boom-in-texas/Three%20steps%20are%20needed%20to%20create%20a%20s olar%20boom%20in%20Texas - broken link) in the Sunday, March 21st Austin-American Statesman, he beautifully explained why solar is now ready to become the next big energy source, but was shy on steps that the Texas legislature or our local public utilities could take to reduce energy costs while creating a local solar manufacturing boom.
We can do the same thing for solar that we did for wind. Set a modest statewide goal, say – 5,000 MW by 2025, and require every utility to buy some solar so they can get used to it.
When the sun is the hottest is when solar makes the most energy, during the summer in Texas that is also when our peak demand for electricity occurs. Meeting peak demand is often 3-4 times more expensive than the average cost of power. If small solar energy owners were paid market price for the energy they produce on peak you’d see solar everywhere.
Solar incentive programs work. Austin and TXU have had programs like this that pay about 30% of the cost and have been sold out. This program has kick started local industries and attracts installers and manufacturers.
Solar can cut costs and pollution (the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere per unit of energy produced is 500 times less than coal), but the industry needs a little push. If the state of Texas and local utilities adopt all three of these goals, we’ll be on the way to a solar boom.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Even more powerful an argument can be made for the impact solar power would have on employing Texans. Every gigawatt of solar in Texas will spur a supply chain 25,000 jobs long. Given current estimates of Texas’ solar potential, that could mean nearly 125,000 new jobs by 2020. And that’s not just manufacturing jobs in a handful of factories. More than 75 percent of the solar supply chain is local — installation and maintenance jobs where solar can be installed, which is every community throughout our state. No other industry or technology offers this kind of job creation potential in every county, city, district and neighborhood.
The Texas solar market could be huge. Our nearly 30 million citizens use more power per capita than any other state. And that’s just the Texas market. Becoming a leader today in the solar industry could establish Texas as a solar exporter tomorrow. Solar manufacturers consider a “shippable market” to be within a 1,000-mile radius of their plants. For most potential locations in Texas, that radius would encompass most of the U.S. Texas’ excellent international shipping capabilities would open Mexican and Central American markets, as well.

Great news