How solar could spark a clean-energy transition through transformative innovation—creative financing, revolutionary technologies, and flexible energy systems. Solar energy, once a niche application for a limited market, has become the cheapest and fastest-growing power source on earth. What's more, its potential is nearly limitless—every hour the sun beams down more energy than the world uses in a year. But in Taming the Sun, energy expert Varun Sivaram warns that the world is not yet equipped to harness erratic sunshine to meet most of its energy needs. And if solar's current surge peters out, prospects for replacing fossil fuels and averting catastrophic climate change will dim. Innovation can brighten those prospects, Sivaram explains, drawing on firsthand experience and original research spanning science, business, and government. Financial innovation is already enticing deep-pocketed investors to fund solar projects around the world, from the sunniest deserts to the poorest villages. Technological innovation could replace today's solar panels with coatings as cheap as paint and employ artificial photosynthesis to store intermittent sunshine as convenient fuels. And systemic innovation could add flexibility to the world's power grids and other energy systems so they can dependably channel the sun's unreliable energy. Unleashing all this innovation will require visionary public policy: funding researchers developing next-generation solar technologies, refashioning energy systems and economic markets, and putting together a diverse clean energy portfolio. Although solar can't power the planet by itself, it can be the centerpiece of a global clean energy revolution.
Author(s): Varun Sivaram
Publisher: The MIT Press
Year: 2018
Language: English
Pages: 391
Tags: Solar Energy, Power
Contents
......Page 8
List of Figures and Boxes
......Page 10
Preface
......Page 14
Highlights......Page 20
1. Two Futures
......Page 22
A Brighter Future......Page 26
The Sky’s The Limit......Page 29
Everybody’s Doing It......Page 31
We’ve Seen This Movie Before......Page 40
Switching Tracks......Page 42
2. Coming of Age
......Page 46
Three Millennia to Get Going......Page 48
From Selenium to Silicon......Page 51
Peddler on the Roof......Page 52
Sunburned in Silicon Valley......Page 56
China and Silicon: The Dream Team......Page 59
State of the Industry......Page 64
3. Blocking the Sun
......Page 74
How Much Solar Does the World Really Need?......Page 78
Capital Crunch......Page 83
Undone by Success......Page 87
If It Quacks Like a Duck . . . ......Page 93
Necessity Is the Mother of Innovation......Page 97
Highlights......Page 104
4. Chasing Capital
......Page 106
Toward YieldCo 2.0......Page 111
Securitization Blanket......Page 117
Searching for a Supermajor......Page 124
Public-Sector Training Wheels......Page 129
5. From Charity Case to Business Case
......Page 134
When Past Is Not Prologue......Page 137
Paying for PAYG......Page 143
Microgrids, Macro-Impact......Page 147
The Double-Edged Sword of Public Intervention......Page 154
Highlights......Page 160
6. Revolution by Evolution
......Page 162
From Photons to Electrons......Page 167
Say That Ten Times Fast......Page 170
Alternatives to the Alternative......Page 175
One Size Doesn’t Fit All......Page 178
Escaping Lock-In......Page 183
7. Stashing Sunshine
......Page 188
“No Bugs, No Wires”......Page 192
The Holy Grail......Page 198
Heating Up......Page 202
Planning for the Future......Page 209
Highlights......Page 212
8. Is Bigger Better?
......Page 214
Let’s Get Together......Page 219
Bracing for the Next Superstorm......Page 226
A Grid Hive Mind......Page 231
Best of Both Worlds......Page 235
9. No Silver Bullet
......Page 240
A Class of Its Own......Page 245
Getting to Deep Decarbonization......Page 251
From Capacity to Capability......Page 258
Batteries on the Go......Page 262
Beyond Energy......Page 264
10. A Solar City upon a Hill
......Page 268
Third Time’s the Charm?......Page 273
How to Fund Energy Innovation......Page 279
No Taxation without Innovation......Page 285
Executing Mission Innovation......Page 290
Acknowledgments
......Page 294
Scientific Terms......Page 298
Solar Industry and Technology Terms......Page 299
General Energy Terms......Page 302
Business and Finance Terms......Page 306
Innovation Terms......Page 307
Organizations......Page 309
Chapter 1......Page 310
Chapter 2......Page 314
Chapter 3......Page 319
Chapter 4......Page 325
Chapter 5......Page 331
Chapter 6......Page 336
Chapter 7......Page 341
Chapter 8......Page 345
Chapter 9......Page 350
Chapter 10......Page 356
Chapter 3......Page 362
Chapter 5......Page 363
Chapter 9......Page 364
Chapter 10......Page 365
Index
......Page 366
