PHOTOVOLTAICS

Photovoltaic cells, which produce electricity directly when struck by sunlight, rank among the most attractive solar options. As rooftop power plants, these decentralized technologies produce no pollution, contain no moving parts to break or wear out.

Long used in the space program and for terrestrial applications, solar cells have been too expensive to see widespread use in areas served by large conventional power plants and electrical grids. But if DOE meets its objective of reducing the cost of obtaining energy through silicon arrays-pulling the peak watt price down to 50¢ by 1986-consumers will be able to purchase decentralized power sources to fit their homes and businesses and budgets.

DOE's Photovoltaic Research & Development Program appears to be headed in the right direction but at the wrong speed. A suitably diverse assortment of technical possibilities is receiving attention, and the level of funding bespeaks a strong commitment. But the federal effort to cut the cost of silicon arrays significantly by 1986 cannot be pursued with enough vigor to meet the deadline unless additional funds are allocated.

Technology Development

$15 million more to increase work on balance-of-systems (the storage, power conditioning, and other equipment besides photovoltaic arrays needed to provide usable electricity).

$15 million more to further research and development of technologies that concentrate sunlight onto small high-efficiency cells.

$30 million more to support efforts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop various promising devices and techniques: non-silicon and amorphous silicon technologies ($5 million), polysilicon technologies ($10 million), advanced sheet-growth technologies ($10 million), and cell-fabrication and encapsulization ($5 million).

Tests and Applications

$60 million more to construct 15 prototypical photovoltaic devices for use in agriculture, industry, homes, businesses, and utilities. DOE now solicits designs for photovoltaic equipment through Program Research and Development Announcements, but it does not allocate sufficient money to develop components and systems to the prototype stage. In FY-79, for example, only $4 million was

budgeted for fabrication-enough to try only one of the 29 development-worthy designs identified by the PRDA program.

SOLAR LOBBY'S ASSUMPTIONS

ABOUT PHOTOVOLTAIC R&D...

• Design work should continue, but fabrication should be stepped up. We have designs aplenty to test now while the conceptualization process unfolds.

• Problems with the use of photovoltaics should be identified and worked out now so that consumers are not treated as guinea pigs later on.

• Photovoltaics are on the verge of readiness for widespread use. Investments in their development will pay off quickly and provide protection against the near-term vagaries of the conventional-fuel market.

• Technologies that foster the decentralization of both energy and political power are preferable to those that don't, and they should receive preferential treatment.

WIND POWER

Harnessing the wind with technologies that are on or about ready for the market could yield significant quantities of energy within a few years. Yet, unaccountably and repeatedly, DOE has requested less money for wind-power development than an optimal program requires. To make matters worse, OMB has slashed DOE's inadequate FY-80 budget further still.

Applications Analysis

$1.3 million more to study the applications of industrial process heat, wind for heating, and other nonutility loads.

Wind Characteristics

$1.5 million more to accelerate the gathering of wind-resources data needed to assess three regions with great promise as sites for wind-power technologies: New England, the Upper Plains, and the Midwest.

$.5 million more to study and advise Congress on ways to upgrade wind data gathered by the National Weather Service. This effort would have to involve the Commerce Department, the Weather Service's parent organization.

Technology Development

$3.75 million more to increase component development, particularly within industries not now participating in the federal wind program; to finance real time testing (of small machines) for comparison with simulated performance testing; and to fund unsolicited proposals that address problems currently outside the federal program.

Small-Scale Systems

$4 million more to expand testing of commercially available machines so that basic data on safety and durability can be collected and so that extra towers can be erected to test prototype machines. $3.5 million more to make second-generation improvements in the development of the 1kw, 8kw, and 40kw machines.

$1.5 million more to support one additional award in 4kw design development and to support design changes.

$4 million more to expand the field evaluation program. If 100 additional machines are purchased, a utility "feeder" line can be saturated and used as a basis for developing data to use to convince utilities that wind machines can be successfully integrated into existing power grids.

$3 million more to develop two machines in the high range of the small models (60 to 80kw)—a design gap. Machines of this size hold promise for light industry and remote communities.

$2 million more to launch an R&D program on tower dynamics, wake measurements, unsteady aerodynamics, and other performance factors that have not been investigated with respect to small machines.

$3 million more to establish a small-grants program to develop promising system prototypes and component designs.

Intermediate-Scale Systems

$1.5 million more to develop on contract the MOD-4 design and to ensure competition in this effort.

$3 million more to expand intermediate applications of the Darrieus vertical-axis machine, which compares favorably with horizontal-axis machines in terms of cost and performance.

Large-Scale Machines

$4 million more to purchase a fourth MOD-2 machine for comparison to other solar-electric options of the same size (10 MWe).

$10 million more to back the parallel development of advanced systems, thus stimulating competition in the industry and increasing the number of design choices.

ABOUT WIND-POWER DEVELOPMENT...

• Since many factors influence this resource's potential in a given spot, would-be users of wind power need precise data to determine its local feasibility.

• Without comprehensive information on the nature and applications of wind-power, consumers cannot assess their options or make long-term plans involving wind energy.

• The federal government needs to guarantee diversity within the wind-power industry. For two reasons, protection against monopoly is particularly important in the segment of industry that develops, produces, and sells large-scale wind machines. First, while the development of small machines has typically been sponsored through multiple contracts, only a single manufacturer has been involved in the construction of a single prototype for each design of a large-scale machine. Second, the amount of money involved in development tends to increase with the size of the machine.