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作者 傑奇•艾倫•朱利安諾 博士
目前對能源的觀點由來已久，其目標變成是使擁有能源的人以最大獲利方式販售任何種類的低成本能源，至於那些免費的能源來源，諸如陽光、風與地熱根本不適合這套生產模式。
即使在1960年代中期發生原油短缺的問題，美國政府仍不願發展太陽能電池的新技術。「金色陽光：太陽能建築與技術兩萬五千年」的作者肯•布弟與約翰•柏林在書中提到：「華盛頓方面的態度，反映著一個受到便宜化石燃料無限制供給，以及核能發電萬無一失所催眠的國家。」
這間在紐澤西、候普威爾的房子，並沒有與商用電力系統連接，他們使用被動式太陽能發電與太陽能熱水器的設計。（照片提供 萊爾洛林斯公司）
布弟與柏林點醒了我們，太陽能與煤炭、石油、天然氣或是核能的情況不同，在它的背後並沒有龐大的商業利益存在，自然也就不會出現有力的遊說團體。
近來，一些城市對於選擇使用太陽能電池發電的居民給予補助，但幾乎所有的計畫依舊要求用戶繼續維持在整個能源供應系統中，並將他們多餘的能源賣回給電力公司，這規定嚴重地限制人們完全脫離電力系統而達到自給自足的能力。
為避免影響收益，電力公司當然不會希望用戶脫離電力網路，這種反太陽能的作為在全世界都上演著。在六月八號的華盛頓郵報上有一篇文章討論西雅圖時報上有一整版的篇幅告知讀者，在家裡「即使將電池接上太陽能系統，可能也無法同時使用洗衣機與空調。」
但問題是我們真的一定要同時使用它們嗎？戰後人們對於能源的消耗，依舊維持著同樣的心態。
在同一篇文章中，作者引述了一位電力研究所專家的意見，這位專家不斷地削減我們今日對太陽能使用的熱情，他預測「一百年後，太陽能才會提供這世界一定比例的能源需求。他告訴我們，太陽能設備就像游泳池一樣算是奢侈品。」可悲的是，這是事實。
雖然美國政府無意發展太陽能的商業化，世界上還是有許多人投入太陽能的發展，在許多其他的國家，太陽能發電正迅速地發展中。三洋公司計畫於2004年在東京建造世界最大的太陽能發電廠，將可輸出3百40萬瓦的電力。1百萬瓦特的電足以照亮1千戶典型的美國家庭。
山姆范德倫，過去在加州州長傑瑞•布朗的合宜科技辦公室（現已廢除）擔任指導的建築師，他告訴加州一家報社「貝尼卡新聞」：「若是政府成為太陽光電的主要顧客，一定能刺激這個產業。」
范德倫聲稱，在內華達建一座大型的太陽能發電廠，便可以供給全美的電量。
哈伯太空望遠鏡上的太陽能面板在日出中閃閃發光。（照片提供 美國太空總署）
在國家太空探險計畫工作的20年經驗中，我看過許多太空梭太陽能動力設備的突破，也就是說建造有效率設備的技術早已存在。
在太空總署噴射推進實驗室工作，我接觸到航海家號、伽利略號以及太空站的任務，參與設計出的裝備不僅是當時世界上最先進的，同時也是最省能的，一臺高解析度的電視攝影機只需五到十瓦特的電，而在地球上的一般電視台裡則需用到上萬瓦。
國際太空站在太空中完全架設好後，有八個太陽面板翼，每一面長107呎，寬38呎，八片的面積共有32,528平方呎，它們所產生的電力足夠太空站運作15年，這些面版的電力足以提供十戶美國一般家庭所需。
我們已經有了太陽能的技術，但卻沒有心去經營。該是拋開石化公司加諸我們怪異觀念的時候了，給太陽能一個機會吧！
參考資料
1.參觀利用太陽能的真材實料http://www.solareco.com/articles/articles.
cfm?ct=1000。在那裡可以找到脫離電力網絡所需的設備
2.參觀太陽家居研究所http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-00zb.html關於可持續未來的資訊
3.太陽能烹調網站
http://solarcooking.org/
4.看守世界研究所提供更多人類對世界的衝擊。http://www.worldwatch.org/
5.參考綠色和平組織一篇關於為何我們不試試太陽能的報告。here
6. 找出你的國會代表，並且email給他們。根據你的郵遞區號，可在這網站找到他們：http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
ziptoit.html
7.與布希總統聯絡president@whitehouse.gov，告訴他讓太陽發光的時候到了，別再反對太陽能。
傑奇•艾倫•朱利安諾博士，是西雅圖的教師兼作家。在太陽每天給予地球的任何形式的能量中，都可以很神奇的發現他的蹤跡。請將你的想法、評論與觀察寄到他的信箱：jackie@healingourworld.com，或是造訪他的網：http://www.healingourworld.com
【文章連載】
■讓太陽能重見天日 (上) (下)
全文與圖片詳見: http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2001/2001L-06-15g.html
版權歸屬Environment News Service(ENS)，環境資訊協會 (王惟芬譯， 蘇崧棱、蔡麗伶 審校)
中英對照譯稿請見：http://e-info.org.tw/issue/energy/
2001/sub-energy01091101.htm
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By Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D
The energy ethic that exists today had taken hold. The goal had become to sell the cheapest forms of energy possible to make the most profit for utility owners. Alternative forms of energy that use free sources such as sunlight, wind, and the heat of the Earth do not fit into this model of production.
Even though crude oil shortages were beginning to appear in the mid-1960s, the U.S. government never embraced the new technology for solar cells. Authors Ken Butti and John Perlin in their book "Golden Thread, 25,000 years of
Solar Architecture and Technology," said that "Washington's
attitude mirrored that of a nation hypnotized by seemingly limitless
supplies of cheap fossil fuel, and by the almost magic aura surrounding
nuclear energy."
This home in Hopewell, New Jersey
is not connected to the utility grid. It utilizes passive solar design,
solar photovoltaic power, and solar heated water. (Photo courtesy Lyle
Rawlings, First, Inc.)
Butti and Perlin remind us that there was no powerful
solar lobby like the ones for the huge business interests behind coal,
oil, gas, and nuclear power.
Recently, some cities have offered subsidies for
property owners who choose to install solar cells to generate power. But
nearly all those programs demand that the homes continue to be hooked up
to the energy grid, selling back their surplus power to the electric
utility. This has severely limited the ability of people to be able to
afford to leave the power grid completely to supply their own energy
needs.
The utility companies, of course, do not want you to
leave the grid, since such an approach would infringe on profits. So
anti-solar propaganda is spread liberally around the world. In an
article in the "Washington Post" on June 8 that was carried as
a full page special feature in the "Seattle Times," readers
were told that even with batteries attached to solar systems,
"homeowners probably could not run washers and air conditioners at
the same time."
But do we really need to run them at the same time? The
same postwar energy consumption mindset is still firmly in place.
That same article quotes a solar expert from the
Electric Power Research Institute who continues to dampen our enthusiasm
for solar power today by predicting that in "100 years from now,
solar energy will provide a substantial percentage of the world's energy
needs." He tells us that solar power is still a "luxury item,
like buying a swimming pool." Sadly, it is true.
But while the U.S. government has been uninterested in
developing solar power commercially, many inventors around the world
have continued solar development and many other nations are aggressively
pursuing solar power. The Sanyo Company plans to build the world's
largest solar power generation system, with a 3.4 megawatt output, in
Toyko by 2004. One megawatt is enough electricity to light 1,000 typical
American homes.
Sim Van der Ryn, an architect who directed California's
now defunct Office of Appropriate Technology under Governor Jerry Brown,
told the "Benicia News," a California newspaper, "If the
government had been a major purchaser of [solar] photovoltaics, it would
have stimulated that industry."
Van der Ryn asserts, "You
could supply the entire electricity demand of the U.S. with one giant
solar farm in Nevada."
The gold of the solar arrays on the Hubble Space Telescope, illuminated
from behind by the sunrise (Photo courtesy NASA )
As a 20 year veteran of our nation's space exploration
program, I have seen the advances made in creating solar power systems
for spacecraft. The capability of creating super efficient machines
exists as well.
While working on the Voyager, Galileo, and Space Station
missions for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at
the Jet Laboratory, I worked designing missions for instruments that
were the most advanced, yet most energy efficient, on Earth. A high
resolution TV camera used five to 10 watts of power. Its counterpart in
a TV station on Earth uses tens of thousands of watts.
When fully deployed in space at the International Space
Station, the eight solar panel wings, each 107 by 38 feet, will
encompass an area of 32,528 square feet, and will provide power to the
station for 15 years. Those panels provide enough energy to power about
10 average American homes.
The solar technology is there, but the heart and
motivation are not. It is time to throw open the doors to solar power
technology and release the stranglehold that fossil fuel energy
companies have on our lives.
RESOURCES
1. Visit Real Goods for a primer on solar power at: http://www.solareco.com/articles/articles.
cfm?ct=1000. While you are there, you can outfit your home with the
necessary equipment to get off the grid.
2. Visit the Institute for Solar Living at: http://www.solarliving.org/
index.cfm for info about a sustainable future
3. Get into solar cooking at: http://solarcooking.org/
4. Learn about the human impact on our world from the
Worldwatch Institute at: http://www.worldwatch.org/
5. See a Greenpeace report about why we don't have more
solar power by clicking here.
6. Find out who your Congressional representatives are
and e-mail them. If you know your Zip code, you can find them at: http://www.visi.com/
juan/congress/ziptoit.html
7. Contact President Bush at president@whitehouse.gov.
Tell him it is time to let the Sun shine in and to stop resisting solar
power.
{Jackie Alan Giuliano, Ph.D. is a writer and teacher in
Seattle. He can be found marveling at all the energy from the Sun that
bathes our Earth every day. Please send your thoughts, comments, and
visions to him at jackie@healingourworld.com
and visit his web site at: http://www.healingourworld.com}
http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2001/2001L-06-15g.html
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