There's a new report out from Environment America talking about the need for increased use of solar power in the country's energy supply.

From Laundromats and baseball stadiums, to homes and cars, solar energy is already enhancing energy security and reducing pollution in America.  A new Environment Rhode Island report outlines a vision for using the sun to meet10 percent of the United States’ total energy needs by 2030.

“The sun provides more energy in an hour than all the coal mines and oil wells do in a year,” said Caitlin Seeley, Federal Field Associate with Environment Rhode Island.  “This solar energy is limitless and pollution free.  America can and must figure out how to tap the heat and power of the sun.  Solar power is also increasingly cost competitive with older, dirtier sources of energy.”

Building a Solar Future: Repowering America’s Homes, Businesses and Industry with Solar Energy examines a wide variety of solar technologies and tools, including photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, solar water heaters, solar space heating, and passive solar design.

Richard Weinberg of Thermal Reserve, LLC asserts that “Many new technological opportunities exist for moving from traditional fuel sources to solar-based sources.  The technology, incentives, and proven examples from around the world now allow solar technologies to compete against traditional power and heating sources.”

The report also profiles various applications of solar energy currently in use, such as:

• Walmart’s use of skylights in some of its big box stores has cut energy costs by 15 to 20 percent by reducing the need for electric lighting.
• 
  Laundry facilities, hotels, hospitals and even baseball’s Boston Red Sox have adopted solar water heating to reduce their consumption of natural gas for water heating.
• 
  A Frito-Lay plant in California uses solar concentrators to provide heat for cooking snack foods.
• 
  Solar energy can be paired with advanced energy efficiency techniques to create zero net energy homes, which produce as much energy as they consume. Zero net energy homes have already been built in parts of the country, are possible in all climates, and often save money for consumers over time.
• 
  As more plug in electric cars and trucks enter the marketplace, solar energy will power our nation’s transportation system as well.   

The 17^th Avenue Gordon Business Incubator is a building that uses solar, along with other energy saving and green technologies, to revive a decrepit and empty warehouse into a home for fledgling and/or environmentally sensitive businesses and Rhode Island’s first commercial “green” building.  By taking advantage of the sun’s power this building is able to power the buildings electrical needs, thus requiring less energy from more polluting sources.

The report finds that by achieving a 10 percent goal for solar energy, within two decades the sun could provide more energy than the U.S. currently produces at nuclear power plants, more than half as much as it currently consumes in American cars and light trucks, or nearly half as much as we currently obtain from burning coal. Solar energy can play a major role in weaning the nation from dangerous, polluting, unstable and, in many cases, increasingly expensive forms of energy.

Environment Rhode Island called on local, state and federal governments to remove the barriers currently impeding the spread of solar energy.  This can be accomplished by investing in solar and adopting strong policies to make solar energy an important part of America’s energy future. Such policies include financial incentives, advanced building codes, public education, workforce development, research and development, and a strong renewable electricity standard requiring utilities to get a percentage of their electricity from renewable energy, like solar.

Matthew Soursourian, Policy Associate for Mayor Cicilline, said that “Mayor Cicilline recognizes the environmental and economic value in supporting solar and other renewable technologies. It is our hope that we can protect the planet and fuel our local economy by creating green jobs right here in Providence.”  He highlighted buildings using solar power in Providence, such as the Providence Career and Technical Academy with a solar array on its roof that generates of 35 percent of the hot water used in the 300,000 square-foot building.

While Rhode Island already has relatively strong policies to incentivize solar installations there is still room for improvement.  Kenneth Payne, Administrator for the state’s Office of Energy Resources, affirmed that “We’re good, but we should strive for greatness.”

“Americans today need barrels of oil from a desert half a world away, in the most unsettled and dangerous region of the earth, just to power a trip to the grocery store,” said Seeley, “How much easier and more secure would it be to harness the heat and light that strikes our rooftops every day?”