Solar power has been around for quite some time and most people don’t give it much thought except those who are already interested in renewable energy sources. Environmentalists have always loved the idea of ​​solar power, but what has stopped it from going mainstream, being used more widely, and being seen as something someone wants to spend money to install on their property? There have been improvements in solar energy technology, but has it been enough? Isn’t the war on terror and the desire to be independent of foreign energy sources enough to persuade people to go solar? At what point will solar energy become the great and endless source of energy that many imagined many years ago?

Well, I, for one, think the time has come for solar power to really take off for a reason: It will be economically the right and smart thing to do.

Last year I was driving to Las Vegas from San Jose and when I was three-quarters of the way to my destination, I passed a sign that said something about a “solar farm.” I took a look and saw row after row of solar panels sitting in the middle of the desert. This is the only farm that could survive in the desert, I thought to myself. So I thought “Wow. Why can’t I do that?” To a lesser extent, of course, due to my limited resources. But I thought, why not rent some land and buy some of these panels and start my own little farm? It made sense and, in fact, it still makes sense to me.

I went home later and looked into the solar energy industry. I wanted to see if this was possible now and I thought if these people put all these panels in the dessert and sell the power to others, why can’t a small business owner do it?

Well, what I found out is that it is not possible to do it yet. Why? Because the cost of panels, property, labor, etc. it wasn’t low enough to make a profit so you can sell the power. The solar farm was probably subsidized by the government. So I studied the possibility of using them in homes. This thinking has been around for decades and panels are seen in more homes than before so I was wondering if this was possible now. I’ve found that the average consumer takes too long to recoup their investment to consider installing solar panels on their homes.

The average time for an owner to recover the money on their investment is 12 to 20 years. For this industry to take off that number, I think it’s going to have to go down to around 5 to 7. Actually, not that much. In fact, it could go below that.

Three things must happen for the promise of solar power to become a reality and for homeowners and business owners to decide in large numbers to use solar panels to generate electricity:

1. The price of panels will have to decrease.

2. The panels will have to improve and produce more energy.

3. The cost of energy will have to increase.

In reality, only one of these factors can occur to any great extent and the other two remain constant and a point will be reached where the solar energy industry will explode. But chances are all three will get closer and at some point people will decide to start buying the panels in record numbers and we will see this way of creating energy from a clean, renewable source become commonplace.

Here’s why I think the time is very close for this explosion to happen.

1. There is a bill in the California state legislature now that will spend billions of dollars on solar rebates. The governor wants to show that he is at the forefront of this movement and wants to be aggressive. Some don’t like the way the bill is worded, but it’s very likely to pass.

2. Panels are becoming more efficient at producing more energy.

3. The price can drop drastically if contracts are established with China to produce the panels. Normally I don’t like our jobs being overseen by people who only get fractions of what the American worker earns, but in this case it will also create a lot of jobs here to install the panels, sell them, store them, etc. Also, this is something that the country needs to feel. Clean, renewable energy that makes us less reliant on foreign oil and gases.

Also, some companies are producing these new generation flexible solar power panels that come in sheets and can be rolled up and then spread out on surfaces. These can lower the cost and make installation much easier and more cost effective.

At what point will these three variables merge?

I predict that in the next two or three years this industry will take off as many of us expected many years ago.

People can act now, and many are already buying and installing these solar panels. With the war on terror looking like it could go on for decades, many see this investment not only as a clean, green solution and a smart investment to increase the value of their home, but as an almost patriotic gesture in a way to free us from the dependence on oil and natural gas from the middle east.