The future of solar energy is looking good because the future of a lot of other industries is looking bad, says a recent article in Forbes magazine. It is one of the few industries that is not influenced by 'temperamental developers [and] fickle public tastes', article author Michael Kanellos states, and as such is one with safe and secure prospects.
Despite some solar companies across the world reporting a decrease in earnings in recent weeks, there is good reason to believe the solar energy industry to still be on the rise. 'Everyone needs energy,' writes Kanellos. 'If we magically eliminated the Internet tomorrow, life would be like 1986 ... [but] if you got rid of the modern energy infrastructure, civilization would be plunged back to the 1830s'.
The article goes on to state that the fact that the energy industry is based on needs and not wants influenced the past week's announcement that the Bank of America will loan SolarCity, an American leader in solar energy, approximately $350 million for its SolarStrong initiative. The initiative will install 300 megawatts of rooftop solar panels on houses in as many as 124 US military bases over the coming five years.
The US military is thought to be a huge factor in the push for solar energy throughout the USA, and the US army has expressed a strong interest in 'renewables' in recent times.
But it is not just the military helping the solar energy cause. "Designing and erecting solar power plants is a people-intensive business," says Kirt Mayland, the director of business development at installer Soltas Energy. "The 24GWs scheduled to be installed nationwide over the next five years will stimulate significant growth in the industry both in jobs and in ongoing economic activity."
With other energy fuel such as coal, oil and nuclear facing problems such as high expense and high infrastructure building cost, Kanellos believes that 'simple' solar energy is looking to be the better option, and expects the solar energy industry to boom in the coming years.
