NOVA

Saved by the Sun

Saturday, Sunday December 5 @ 6;00pm and 11:00pm

As the Earth heats up at a dangerous rate and fossil fuels become scarcer, ordinary citizens and businesses are bypassing the federal government to lead the way in exploring a clean, renewable source of power: the sun. In this report, NOVA shines a light on how and why people across America and the world are “going solar,” using radiant energy of the sun to power homes, businesses, and even entire communities. But can everyday people really make a difference by using solar power? And can solar technologies, with their high cost and logistical challenges, truly play a bigger role in powering the future of humanity? The grand hopes, latest innovations, roiling controversies, and practical realities of solar power all come to the fore in this program.

In the 1970s, at the height of an earlier energy crisis, solar power looked like the trend of the future—President Jimmy Carter even installed solar panels on the White House. But in the ensuing decades, as the price of gas and oil dropped, solar power lost favor and failed to make a significant contribution to the nation’s power grid. Now, with rising energy needs and wars in the Middle East pushing energy prices higher, the world has been forced to take another look. Could it be time to take solar energy seriously again?

“Saved By the Sun” probes how innovative technologies, new business models, increasing financial incentives, and a growing grassroots commitment to solving the climate crisis are driving a renaissance in solar energy around the world. Across the U.S., solar panels are capping more and more roofs. In Germany, a “great wall” of solar panels lines the autobahn, feeding the Munich power grid. At Cal Tech, nanotechnology is spurring new solar inventions. Worldwide, solar energy is expected to be a $50 billion industry within a decade.

The timing of this solar boom is vital. The aging U.S. power grid is vulnerable to summertime blackouts, and fossil fuel sources are contributing to the looming threat of severe climate change. But is the groundswell of hope surrounding solar power warranted? This program presents several perspectives, ranging from a middle-class family that found peace of mind and cost savings by installing solar panels; to a leading energy correspondent who questions the economic sustainability of solar energy; and finally to entrepreneurs who believe the sun is our last, best hope for powering the future.

The story begins at the National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado, where solar pioneer Larry “Kaz” Kazmerski explains how silicon solar cells work. Such solar cells convert photons from the sun into a current of flowing electrons (see Inside a Solar Cell). Kazmerski also reveals the cells’ biggest downfall: the sun’s up-and-down nature, which prevents solar cells from working when the sun doesn’t shine.

Then the film takes a tour of two solar-powered American houses: a modest family home near Boston and a “show home” in Maine that is so efficient, its owners pay nothing for electricity. The program reveals that, though still expensive for many, solar panels are now cheaper than ever. Some states offer cash rebates, and most now have “net metering,” which allows solar users to sell their extra energy back to the grid for credit on their bill. (See This Solar House for one family’s inspiring example.)

While a greater number of solar-powered houses can help reduce carbon-dioxide emissions in a modest way, some believe a bigger investment in a national solar infrastructure is needed. NOVA takes audiences on a rare journey inside the world’s largest solar thermal plant: Kramer Junction in the Mojave Desert, which powers some 150,000 Los Angeles-area homes. Kramer generates electricity via vast rows of parabolic-shaped mirrors, which in turn heat vats of water to the boiling point, so the resulting steam can drive huge turbines (see New Ways to Catch Rays). Though effective, there is a reason no other plants like Kramer exist: huge amounts of valuable land are needed. But this too may be changing, at least in the Southwest, where NOVA takes a peek at a solar plant that will soon help fuel the power-hungry city of Las Vegas.

Other countries are pursuing solar power with far more gusto than the U.S. NOVA travels to Germany, which despite not being known for sunny weather, has become a solar mecca. By offering cash incentives, the government has encouraged many citizens, from city dwellers to a pig farmer, to put up solar panels. Astonishingly, Germany is now on track to produce 30 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. By contrast, the U.S. gets only 1 percent of its energy from solar and wind power. However, there are those, including Vijay Vaitheeswaran, energy correspondent for The Economist, who fear that Germany’s expensive program could ultimately be hard to sustain.

While some remain skeptical, others see a blazing future through new solar technologies. The program introduces several passionate pioneers, including Sarah Kurtz, one of the forgers of the “multi-junction solar cell,” which proved itself on Mars with the robotic rovers and now could portend an exciting leap in the efficiency of solar panels; Nathan Lewis at Cal Tech, who foresees nanotechnology—technology on a submicron scale—changing the solar landscape and has envisioned a “solar paint” that could one day turn the entire surface of your house into a solar cell; and one of America’s most creative thinkers on energy issues, Amory Lovins, who has a goal of getting the U.S. off fossil fuels by 2040. Is such a goal really possible? The bottom line seems to be that nobody wants to wake up 30 years from now and wish we had tried to answer that question earlier.
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