The Solar Future

This article from CNN about a MIT professor working on thin-film solar curtains has all kinds of food for thought on an important issue: how solar will integrate with our existing conceptions of what a home looks and feels.

When you hear “solar curtains,” the idea that comes to mind are pretty basic - the same curtains, essentially, and I get some power out of them for good measure. While obviously cost is a factor, assuming the product pays for itself in electricity savings, this is a relatively simple decision with a seemingly clear set of implications - my curtains will power my stuff and save me money! And that’s part of the reason why innovations like this are exciting.

But the amount of solar that powers a home isn’t going to come just from curtains, at least anytime soon; and if we get to a point where it does, I think we’ll be past pondering the future of solar, as it will be here. And the argument for the promise of inventions like this doesn’t assume that, either; the argument roughly reads, “small innovations will, piece-by-piece, gain more traction within the home, powering an ever-increasing percentage of our household electricity needs.” And there’s room to believe that, as well; across the country solar is being used to power household appliances, and especially electronics.

But what happens when solar stops being a cool gadget, a nifty replacement for an existing item, and starts being something that requires both a serious commitment and a more significant attitudinal adjustment? Therein lies one of the biggest challenges for solar. The article talks about a future where we power our objects by placing them up against the walls, but for any rational consumer to take on an option like that, the process either has to be free and low-maintenance, or it has to be backed up by a campaign of marketing, education, and service to make it both a reality and a comfortable reality. This process takes a long time. I kind of like that I know how to power the objects I have now; I don’t want to have to re-learn that. And I can be convinced otherwise, but it’ll take some effort.

And the jump in difficulty is really a jump in the magnitude of solar’s impact upon a “normal” household. In the move from changing the way we power our laptop to changing the way we power entire electricity-requiring systems within our home, and, eventually, our entire home, it’s a change from easily swappable “objects” to the things we just want to work and not have to worry about - our utilities, our paint, our floors, our tile, etc. Aside from decorative options or renovations every year or two, we want these systems to remain stable, and we’ll re-do the furniture, shelving, beds, and electronics on top of that stable base.

For the solar industry, then, the future is simply not going to be a world of “solar curtains.” Because that’s a limited world, and a limited market: items extraneous and superfluous to our normal existence, items we can change for novelty, items that are neat, useful, helpful, efficient, but not essential. Solar will have to make itself ingrained enough that “solar” is no longer a necessary adjective. They will simply be curtains, in a home, and once every year or two the solar guy comes by and makes sure everything’s in order. Or better yet, just the electrician.

As strange as it sounds, the solar future I want, and what the industry should want, is not one of gleaming, beautiful houses powered by awe-inspiring solar technology. It should feel about the same. And when people talk about a “solar remote,” you look at them funny, like my friends would if I said “electric television.” Solar will eventually become the top choice for energy - and there’s all the reason to think it will - when it can make itself so commonplace that it’s no longer remarkable.