The Edmonton Journal
Sat, Aug 30 1997
Could global warming help solar energy find its place in the sun?
Solar power, long regarded as not much more than a curiosity, is attracting new investment because of concerns that carbon dioxide and other ``greenhouse'' gases produced by burning fossil fuels may bring devastating changes in temperature and precipitation worldwide.
``We think solar is something that could be a valuable business for us,'' said John Browne, group chief executive of British Petroleum PLC. BP has invested $20 million in what it says will be one of the largest and most advanced solar cell manufacturing facilities in the world, in Fairfield, Calif.
Solar power represents less than a tenth of a per cent of the total market for energy. Even though it's expected to expand by about 30 per cent this year worldwide, its worth will still be only a little more than $1 billion a year. The United States is the largest producer of solar equipment, but most sales are outside the country.
Browne recently broke ranks with other oil and gas executives when he said the possibility of climate change cannot be discounted and should be acted upon. Part of BP's response, he said, is to develop alternative fuels.
Privately held SunLight Power International has attracted investments from two European insurance companies that are concerned about the storms and rising oceans.
Swiss Reinsurance Co. invested $2.75 million and GAIA Kapital, which is associated with Rolf Gerling of the German Gerling Insurance Group, invested $2 million in SunLight Power, a U.S. company, that plans to supply solar power to developing countries.
Sunlight president Jeff Serfass said his company will be ``providing electric service to rural regions of developing countries where there is no electric service and where the expectation for gaining electric service is out so many years that we provide an option for people to get what we all consider one of the basic commodities in life.''
The company, already operating with a partner in the Dominican Republic, offers electricity for a fee, then installs and operates the equipment at a monthly rate.
The traditional markets for solar power are in areas of the world that power lines don't reach, according to Harvey Forest, head of Solarex Corp. But he said there is a growing market for solar to supplement electric power in countries such as Germany and Japan.
Solarex is a unit of Amoco/Enron Solar, a joint venture of the oil firm and Enron Corp., a natural gas and electricity marketing firm.
Recently, at a United Nations meeting focusing on climate change, President Bill Clinton announced plans to place a million solar energy systems on U.S. roofs by 2010.
Solar power is more costly to produce than electric power from generating plants fired by oil, coal or natural gas. However, in remote areas where the only other possible source of electricity is diesel-powered generators, solar is competitive, according to Solarex's Forest.
Solarex is No. 2 in the worldwide market for solar power. Siemens Solar Industries is
No. 1. The Japanese firm Kyocera Corp. is No. 3, followed by British Petroleum. Solar industry executives hope that, as their market grows, economies of scale and technological innovation will drive prices down.
``We are very small. We're also patient,'' said Forest. ``It takes a long time to develop an energy source. We've only been in business for 25 years, although the technology has been around for longer than that.''
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