Solar power is coming of age. For years it was just for hobbyists and those searching for ITC (Investment Tax Credits). ITC is still a major part of the equation, but Solar Power is becoming more economical thanks to skyrocketing prices in other energy sources.

This morning I read the e-letter from my friends at Koinonia House, which, in addition to being a Bible study site also maintains a global think tank operation. Their letter had this about solar power:

The LA Lakers are going solar. Solar Power Inc just won the contract to install a 345 kilowatt photovoltaic system in the roof of the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Lakers games will be officially blackout-proof. When they’re finished there, Solar Power will move onto Nokia Theatre to install a 167 kilowatt system. Solar energy is getting places.

We know that solar power is clean, renewable, and safe. So, why has it sat simmering on the back burner for so many years? Because it’s also been expensive. Savvy home owners might have installed a few panels on their rooftops during recent decades, but the megabucks of big industry in America haven’t been able to justify the expense.

Prices are declining though. With the rising price of oil and natural gas, solar is looking like a much brighter choice than before. If the utility companies start tapping into solar energy, the solar cell business should finally take off.

One power company is already at it. Last week, Pacific Gas and Electric in California announced that it will buy 800 megawatts of solar-generated electricity from two companies – OptiSolar and SunPower. These solar companies will build the world’s two largest solar farms, and in three years will sell PG&E enough power to light 239,000 homes.

Right now, solar power makes up less than 1 percent of energy production. If other utility companies follow the lead of PG&E, they could finally make solar power mainstream. Ron Pernick, principal of research firm Clean Edge, believes that solar power could produce about 10 percent of our energy by 2025 if utility companies jump on it.

“Just a handful of utilities doing something big changes the scale of the entire market,” says Julia Hamm of the Solar Electric Power Association.

A city does not have to live in the south to make use of solar energy. Germany has been pushing forward with solar power for over a decade and gets more than 14 percent of its power from renewable energy, and Berlin sits at a latitude slightly south of Edmonton, Alberta.

Solar energy companies are concerned, however, that Congress might fail to renew a federal tax credit for clean energy resources such as wind and solar. The ITC (investment tax credit) has encouraged investment in solar and wind power, and has helped spur industries to use renewable energy. It offers a 30 percent tax break of up to $2000 to homeowners, and the same percentage with no cap to businesses. The ITC is set to expire by at the end of the year, and Congress has so far failed to renew it. It has passed in the House, but has failed in the Senate eight times.

“The tax credit is really important in the near term to build the market place and infrastructure for the solar power industry,” noted Rick Gilliam, managing director for western states policy for SunEdison. “In the long term, we won’t need it.”

Solar power companies are not only fighting for the tax credit extension. They want solar power users to be able to tie their systems into the grid, and to receive credit from their local power company for energy they create but don’t use.

Oil usage will not go away. From plastics to polyester, we depend on oil for far more than just gassing up our cars. Yet, freedom from dependency on foreign oil is a vital part of U.S. national security. While we increase domestic oil production, we also need to make the most of all the different energy options we have.

I thought such an insightful observation should be passed along.

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