Environment

Why Solar In their book, ‘The Menace of Atomic Energy’,published nearly 50 years ago, Ralph Nader and John Abbotts revealed to readers that the person most responsible for developing American nuclear reactors, Dr Alvin Weinberg, admitted he would prefer solar energy if its cost could be brought down to less than 2.5 times the cost of nuclear energy.   In 2020, the International Energy Agency (IEA) declared solar electricity the cheapest in history: at least four times cheaper than nuclear.   Solar panels can be installed quickly, with minimal disruption to nature. The embodied energy used up in panels and end-of-life disposal remain concerns but diminishingly so.   In Germany, plans to open a nuclear reprocessing plant at Wackersdorf in Bavaria were discontinued in 1989 because of major public protests. The experience converted former lead nuclear exponent Dr Franz Alt to the benefits of renewable energy (RE). Alt coined the phrase, “solar panels for peace”, echoing President Eisenhower’s 1950s slogan, “atoms for peace”, referring to using fissile nuclear material for civilian electricity production not weapons.   The monstrous consequences of accidents or conflict occasionally remind us that nuclear production poses a persistent security threat.   Decentralised energy independence based on 100 % clean renewables is the alternative.   Extremely Positive Incentives for Change (EPICS), regulatory changes and financial incentives to reduce and capture carbon, are recommended by Lonergan and Sawers in their book ‘Supercharge Me’.   Solar Energy Over 99% of energy in the world comes from the sun. If the sun stopped shining, Earth’s temperature would soon drop to -150 ⁰ C and eventually -270⁰ C. Lighting fires to reach ambient temperature would exhaust fossil fuels within days. Solar energy sustains life. It remains abundant everywhere.   The remaining 1% of energy, over which most wars are fought comes from oil, uranium, gas, and coal.   Harnessing Solar A great piece last year in the excellent Low-Tech Magazine explores the evolution of solar power.   Ancient humans made use of passive heat from the sun to dry materials, light fires, and grow plants, while monuments like Newgrange and Stonehenge that stage solstice alignments suggest ritualistic devotion.   A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell (PV), is an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect -a physical and chemical phenomenon.   In the Victorian era, Charles Fritts’s thin selenium wafers covered with semi-transparent gold wires (1881) produced PV effects.  George Cove invented a solar thermoelectric generator, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1905, with a strong photovoltaic effort, largely forgotten.   Einstein identified the photoelectric effect in 1904, and bandgap theory emerged in the 1930s, associated with Felix Bloch and others.   The modern solar cell debuted in 1954 at the prolific US Bell Labs.  It had a 6 per cent conversion efficiency, a rate which has been nudged up ever since.   Current Power Supply in Ireland Included in EirGrid’s Shaping Our Electricity Future report published in November 2021 is a chart showing assumed renewable generation capacities for Ireland by 2030.   Source Ireland (MW) Onshore Wind 5,700 Offshore Wind 5,000 Solar10 1,500 Total 12,200   One third of the 1,500 mega-watts (MW) of solar energy is expected to come from microgeneration projects, to be connected to the ESB distribution system. A special category for community-owned projects now attracts particular support. Eirgrid acknowledges  “a new era for communities investing in their long-term energy needs”.   According to Dr David Meredith of Teagasc: “The first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (2021) included seven community projects and it will be important to learn from these in terms of good practices in order to develop appropriate models and supports that benefit rural communities in the future”.     Perhaps the solar sector is finally being taken seriously. In 2020, the National Just Transition Fund (JTF) awarded a total of €20.5 million in grant-aid to qualifying projects. The categories funded were: business development; education; training and upskilling; development of co-working and enterprise hubs, renewable energies (RE), and retrofitting.   Representative groups like the Micro-Renewable Energy Federation (MREF) are now asking that VAT on solar PV panels and their supply and installation for private homes and public buildings be reduced or eliminated.   Additionally, Planning exemptions for solar panelsare expected by June, meaning planning permission will no longer be required for larger solar installations across residential rooftops, farm buildings, schools, community centres and a range of commercial buildings.       How to go solar The website of semi-state body SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) provides information on solar technologies, including those supported by grants, especially promoting Electric Ireland’s Superhomes retrofit scheme, whose website furnishes case studies.   The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) could fund renewable energy initiatives on farms.     In February 2022, the Irish government launched the National Retrofitting Scheme, widening the range of supports available to households to improve their energy efficiency. For homeowners, there are three main dimensions to the scheme: individual energy upgrade grants offering up to 80% grant support for insulation and heating, deep retrofit grants offering up to 50% of the cost, and free energy upgrades for those at risk of energy poverty. A state-run low cost loan scheme is also being developed.   In ARC 2020’s report Rural Ireland on the Move, launched at Cultivate’s recent Feeding Ourselves2022 conference in Cloughjordan, Dr Olive McCarthy explores a just transition to energy efficiency for low-income households. She notes that provisions of the National Retrofitting Scheme and related low-cost loans fail to adequately support low-income households in achieving greater energy efficiency and lower costs, according to research conducted by the UCC Centre for Co-operative Studies and North Dublin Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS). On that basis, they fall short of the Nevin Institute’s just transition criteria. While most households surveyed showing environment consciousness, for those with little disposable income, qualifying for aids was too onerous. Even free retrofitting had limited appeal. A just energy transition cannot happen without other tailored measures, such as one-on-one advice. McCarthy concluded: “The introduction of Community Energy Advisors, as recommended by the Saint Vincent de Paul in its