October 4, 2002

SOLARISM GONNA RISE AGAIN!

The Earth would be a frozen mass but for the sun. Humans pay little heed to this fundamental fact of life. We are much like the proverbial fish that does not know that it is in water. Even in our present, scientific age, the tremendous role that the sun plays is largely ignored.

Throughout most of history this has been so, but not quite always. The Romans used solar architecture in some of their buildings with good results. Vetruvius, an architect who lived and wrote in the first century after Christ, provided ample evidence of just how sophisticated the state of solar architectural knowledge was. This knowledge was "lost" for nearly two thousand years and is largely ignored by architects, heating and cooling engineers and builders today.

Some so-called primitive people used solar energy principles in their buildings. Prominent among these were the Ancestral Pueblans and the Pueblo people of more recent times. Some of the most complex buildings in Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, and elsewhere in "Anasazi Lands" demonstrate how fully the architects and builders of that age understood how to use the sun and how effectively they put this knowledge to use.

Flurries of solar use activities took place in the United States around 1910, in the 1920s and in the 1950s. Most of this activity revolved around the use of solar energy to heat domestic hot water. The areas of highest activity - understandably - were southern Florida, desert areas of Arizona and coastal southern California. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the units were subject to damage during the occasional freezes that occurred. Interest lagged and the technology was "forgotten." In the 1950s, in addition to the attention given solar domestic hot water applications, some solar homes were built. And, for a brief time, solar energy groups and organizations came into being and grew.

Wind energy is a form of solar energy. It has been used for centuries in many parts of the world in the form of windmills and in sailing ship applications, primarily. In the United States, prior to the development of electric energy grids, people living in rural areas used wind driven generators for their electric needs. The sale, installation, and maintenance of these wind machines grew into a vibrant, successful industry for a couple of decades (1920s and 1930s, mostly). As the availability of electricity from coal fired, natural gas fired and nuclear plants became widespread and seemingly cheaper and more convenient, the wind machine business languished and pretty much passed from the scene.

The most recent flurry of activity revolving around solar energy applications began in the mid-1970s. The two "oil crises" of that decade spawned this increase in interest, which spread throughout the world, but especially in the so-called developed nations. Local solar groups formed. Membership in the International Solar Energy Society and its various national affiliates expanded so rapidly that the staffs of the various organizations were overwhelmed.

Solar energy application research and development proliferated. Governments "threw" money at the solar organizations and "poured" money into a rapidly expanding solar energy industry, especially in the United States. The government monies consisted of research and development grants, subsidies, tax incentives, and funds for solar conferences, for example. Governmental departments were expanded to include solar energy focuses or new departments were established.

Solar activity, by groups and individuals, was particularly pronounced and vibrant in the Four Corners area. One of the most famous of the solar homes from this era was the George Lof home in the Denver area. Another was the small, simple home built by Peter and Florence van Dresser in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Northern New Mexico and southwest Colorado experience a grassroots, groundswell of solar activity in the late 1970s. Great enthusiasm abounded.

From 1975 to 1981, it looked like a golden age solar energy research, development and application - at long last - was here. Then, in 1981, President Reagan, almost single handedly, dealt a series of "near fatal" blows to the movement. He slashed solar energy budgets (and other alternate technology budgets, too) within the Federal government. He eliminated most of the government programs that were directed toward solar energy research and development. He ended most of the tax incentives associated with the installation and use of solar and other "alternate" technologies. And, through these actions, he "turned" the ship of state back to an emphasis on coal, natural gas and nuclear energy as the primary government energy research, development and application focuses.

Solar groups were 'infiltrated' by architects and engineers who were 'Johnnie Come Latelys' and who were not fully devoted to the widespread application of conservation and all of the various solar energy prospects and promises. They did not help the movement nearly as much as they could have with total commitment.

There was one area that they did not scuttle. This was the application of energy conservation within established industries. Industrial leaders realized that energy conservation made "bottom line" sense. Great strides were made in reducing energy use levels throughout industrial segments, both in the heating and cooling of buildings and in the use of energy in the manufacture of products. Both government grants and tax incentives helped keep these efforts vigorous and ongoing.

In many other countries, a decline in solar energy research, development and applications was less markedly reduced. In fact, in some countries a combination of conservation applications along with the broad-spectrum use of alternate technologies - including solar energy - grew and has continued to expand even to this day. As a result, in the countries that made conservation and alternate energy uses hallmarks of their national energy policies and plans, alternate energy applications have proliferated. The best examples of this are in the Scandinavian countries and in Japan.

As fossil fuel options become more difficult due to declining stocks and as the cost of these fuels rise ever higher, alternatives will become more attractive. A major alternative will be energy conservation. Wind and waterpower will become part of an emerging energy matrix.

And, the direct use of the sun's abundant energy through passive and active solar systems and through the use of solar cells will, eventually, become commonplace. Solarism is 'gonna rise again'! It is not a question of whether; it is a question of when.