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Will Renewable Energy Ever Meet Global Demands?

Tuesday, Jun 24 2014

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Solar in the News

Renewable energy naysayers like Robert Bryce ("Dreaming the Impossible Green Dream," op-ed, June 12) ignore the most productive renewable technology (as does most public policy), solar thermal. This is mystifying as the majority of primary energy is used for heat, not electricity.

Solar thermal collectors convert energy from light waves at four times the rate of PV panels and are always installed with storage. A typical residential building in the U.S. uses 20% of its annual energy for domestic hot water, which can be accomplished with solar panels on 80 square feet of roof and an 80-gallon storage tank.