Thailand’s Environmental Apathy Disapates, Spells Good News For Solar Power

Thailand and Solar Power

Thailand and Solar Power

So back to our Thailand solar power segment. Wow, it’s been a couple of stressful weeks with all the things happening around the world. You have the over-thowing of corrupt regimes all throughout the middle east, the nuclear disaster in Japan, and also the horrible weather that has been effecting Thailand.


The temperatures have plummeted in whats supposed to be the hottest period of the year and storms have been pounding the south of Thailand, flooding villages and towns, killing people, and destroying much needed farmland. As I continue with this Thailand solar power series I want to wish all my friends, family, and everyone who has been affected by the devastation’s in Asia safety and hopefully a return to a peaceful life soon.  

As I spend time in South East Asia it is blatant to see that the old ways of doing things are changing, this can be both a good and bad thing, and for a lot of issues they desperately need to change. Developing country’s have a sort of apathy towards ecological issues such as littering, slash and burn crop techniques, and methods of producing fuel and electricity. Who can blame them, after all they’re just trying to survive right.

But, as a developing country has more and more economical success and more exposure to the world, the views of the people change. They can then turn their attention to other issues around them instead of just surviving and putting food on the table for their family. Thailand has been in this shift for awhile and you can now see signs of it everywhere you travel within it’s borders. Whether it has to do with not throwing their trash on the sidewalk (yes this was very commonplace not to long ago, and is still a major issue), having huge problems with gangs of roaming street dogs (buddhist religion does not support spaying or neutering of animals), animal rights and conservation in general, and energy production responsibility.

In fact as I talked with the Thai people it was apparent that ecological concern and responsibility is becoming more and more important in Thai society. The apathy towards environmental issues is waning at an ever increasing speed due to awareness derived from social groups, mass media, and groups of environmentalists. Solar power is an extremely hot subject in Thailand right now as it would be able to provide a large amount of jobs for the Thai people. As Thailand is quite sunny especially in the North East it is especially suited to this type of alternative energy, the other advantage is it would be able to help ween Thailand off their dependence of natural gas, their main source of fuel, that they have to import from other country’s such as Laos.

The real trick to building a sustainable alternative energy infrastructure is to marry the ideology of both the environmentally responsible and the economical centric of any given society. What this means is that there needs to be a win/win situation for both the environment (clean energy = less pollution) and the economy (solar power farms and plants = money and jobs). The only way to achieve this is by lowering the cost of solar power. The only way to reduce the costs of solar power is to develop better methods and equipment, and of course the only way to develop better methods and equipment is to fund research and development.

In any case in the next decade we will see awareness of solar power spread even more throughout Thailand, and I see them as being the soon to be leader in alternative energies in the South East Asia region.

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Thailand’s Alternative Energy Renaissance

Hello all, and greetings from Bangkok.

Yes that’s right, while all my friends are suffering in the cold and snow back home in Minnesota, I am on my annual trip to Thailand. Sorry guys, hope the furnaces are working well. But today I am not here just to gloat, but to talk a little bit about the progress Thailand is having with their solar power initiatives.

If any of you have been to Thailand before then you will most likely agree with me on the fact that this country does not sleep. As the sweltering days turn to dusk the lights, oh my god, the lights turn on. A feast for the eyes, and as I consume delectable street food, the countries energy needs in turn consume the massive amounts of energy needed to sustain this very special way of life the Thai’s have developed.

So where is all this energy coming from anyways? Well at the moment 70% of energy consumed is generated from natural gas. Less than 5% is coming from alternative energies such as hydro, or solar based power. This is bad for a number of reasons. For one, to have that much energy dependence upon a single source is very risky, as there is a large cost to considered from importing natural gas from Laos, China, and other surrounding countries, not to mention the amount of energy needed to transport natural gas. Also Thailand is lovely, the people friendly, but the air…. well the air quality is definitely not the best in the world to say the least. Motorbikes zooming past at high speed, and the traffic, LA your rush hour got nothing on Bangkok, not to mention the sickening slash and burn farming techniques the government employs in the north. When the very poor air quality in a city of nearly 12 million people is 3 times cleaner then out in the middle of nowhere high up in the mountains near the golden triangle, well you know slash and burn techniques are risky and dangerous to say the least. While natural gas is admittedly less of a pollution emitter than coal, it is still adding to the massive carbon footprint that is Thailand.

Thailand is not the 3rd world country a lot of people think it is back in the states. In fact it is establishing itself as one of the worlds new economic powerhouses. Baht, the Thai currency is the strongest in the world right now, right alongside the Japanese yen. Thailand is no longer the hippy hangout is was 20 years ago. Bangkok itself holds many technological innovations and is revamping itself as an ultra modern city with new skyscrapers being erected daily. Seriously, the cityscape changes with the blink of an eye. An interesting city, yet the Thai are smart, they know with more economic power comes greater responsibility, and this next month I will be talking about the massive solar power installations that are being incorporated into the country as we speak. What the Thai want for the future of their country, and how they mean to achieve this. And how alternative sources of energy are being implemented at both public and private levels.

So stay tuned for my next post, it should be quite interesting, as for me, well, like I said I’m on vacation. I think I’ll go and eat some Som Tum (Thai Papaya Salad). See you soon!

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New Solar Technology Solar Window Coating

Solar Window Coating

Poor Windows Just Sitting There Waiting to Get Sprayed.

There is a new technology in the solar power industry you may have not yet heard of. New Energy Technologies have just unveiled their new solar window coating. The see-thru spray consists of the worlds smallest organic solar cells, and is easily applied to glass window surfaces without blocking the sunlight from your home or business.

Some of the highlights of this technology are:

  • The solar cells in the spray are so small that they measure about a 1/4 the size of a grain of rice.
  • The coating is very easy to apply and does not need costly vacuum or high temperature techniques but can instead be sprayed on at room temperature.
  • The solar window coating conducts electricity from both natural light and does a much better job at generating electricity from artificial lighting. In fact it can generate up to ten fold the electricity from artificial light then traditional solar cells.

The aspect that really gets me excited aside from the ease of installation is the fact that it can generate quite a bit more power from artificial light then traditional PV cells. This is pretty cool because one of the disadvantages to today’s solar cells is it’s dependency on direct sunlight, this is a problem because it dictates where you need to place solar cells on your residence or business. What New Energy Technologies is proposing is that you will be able to use solar window coating on all of your glass windows and conduct energy from artificial light such as fluorescent as well, instead of just applying it to areas where there is direct sunlight.. How much energy and savings could be garnered from artificial light I am not quite sure about yet and will have to be seen, but the prospect non the less is interesting.

Unfortunately the companies website is a little vague on how the solar cells are actually able to do this, but it does state that in a scientific study:

“Under normal office lighting conditions, without the benefit of outside natural light from windows, New Energy’s ultra-small solar cells produced:

  • Almost 2-fold greater output power density than monocrystalline silicon, an established commercial solar cell material;
  • More than 8-fold greater output power density than copper-indium-selenide, known for its high optical absorption coefficients and versatile optical and electrical characteristics; and
  • More than 10-fold greater output power density than flexible thin-film amorphous-silicon, a popular ‘second-generation’ solar thin-film material.”

So, we will have to see if the energy generated from artificial light is enough to be considered any value on it’s own, but as an additional source of energy combining with the energy generated from direct sunlight, along with the ease of use, solar window coating may be a strong contender. Time will tell, and we’ll keep you updated.

What do you think about Solar Window coating, breakthrough, or meh? Be sure to let us know.

Make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed so you can stay up to date when we post more information on renewable energy technology and thank you for visiting Solar Power Cost.

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Are Solar Rebate Programs Working?

Over the last couple of years we’ve seen the solar industry boom due to solar rebate initiatives. These programs give a residential or business owner money back for solar power installations. Depending on what state you are in these rebates can be of a substantial amount of money, and they have been quite successful.

Not only have these programs increased the amount of photovoltaic systems throughout the US but the average cost of installing a new solar power installation has decreased dramatically from $9 to $6 since 2008. This is a huge difference in price.

This decrease in the cost of solar power is extremely important for the future as at the moment cost for a Kilowatt of power throughout the US ranges from 8 cents to just under 20 cents per KwH. These prices are set to dramatically increase in the upcoming years. Renewable energies however will continue to fall as more and more projects are completed. This will amount to vast savings in the next 50 years .

Not to mention the revenue and jobs solar power projects are bringing in as well. Take Pennsylvania for instance. According to The Mercury, “the share of solar power added to Pennsylvania’s grid increased by 350 percent and brought $1.4 million into the state’s economy in 2009.” As our economy and job market is in recession, generating new technology jobs, while generating clean renewable energy should be a main focus for the US.

We are also seeing a positive trend of schools embracing the need of investing in solar power for it’s environmental and economical benefits.

All in all, renewable energy is gaining more mainstream support everyday.

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Alright, So Why Do We Need To Switch To Alternative Sources Of Energy Anyways?

Alternative Sources of Energy

So Why Do We Need Alternative Sources of Energy Anyways.... Really?

So this is really a valid question, and I think it’s something we should be thinking about. Everyday there is something new about emerging alternative sources of energy. We all know it’s important, but that’s really because we are told it’s important by the mass media and by other people. But what is really the major reasons? Why is alternative energy important is what I’d really like to get down to. Is it because of monetary issues? Environment? Social responsibility? All of these are major reasons and we’ll be getting into these, but the fact that these are not the most important might surprise you. Read on to learn the #1 reason why we have to switch to alternative sources of energy, or our lives as we know them will simply cease to exist. So lets start with monetary issues.

Alternative Energy vs Traditional Energy

Are alternative energies cheaper than traditional power generation through the means of fossil fuels? Well, not at the moment. Really it’s not, as far as buying solar or wind energy from your local power company. Now I know what you’re saying right now, “what about Solar Power Cost installations,” okay, yes these in the long run will end up saving you quite a bit, but as far as buying energy as opposed to creating it, at the moment it is more expensive. This gap is closing at an exponential rate however, because of,

1. Better alternative energy technology.
2. Cheaper production methods.
3. Larger alternative energy project installation’s.
4. Drastic increases in the prices for fossil fuel due to scarcity, and the difficulty of obtaining it. I.e. the BP disaster.

So because of these reasons among others alternative sources of energy will be in the very near future, monetarily viable.

Next lets take a look at the environment. Anybody who tells you not to worry about traditional energy generation and that alternative sources of energy are unneeded is blowing smoke up your a$$. The dollar signs are there for more than one reason, THEY ARE LYING TO YOU TO LINE THEIR OWN POCKET. Either that or they are misinformed by propaganda from the the billionaire’s that are selling them their product. C’mon, really, you want to try to tell me that burning coal has no effect on the environment, or drilling for oil doesn’t totally f$$$ up our coasts. Really, do I need to even write about this? Fossil fuels are horrible for the environment, not just utilizing them for energy, but in the collection and manufacturing processes as well. Alternative sources of energy are clean, renewable, and safe. Fossil fuels are not! When it comes to alternative energy vs traditional energy there’s no contest to what’s better for the environment. It’s as simple as that. Now don’t get me wrong, I use fossil fuels, albeit a lot less than the average American. I enjoy my cushy live with all my entertainment, and comforts. However if there are better and safer ways to create my creature comforts I want that, don’t you?

So now lets take a look at social responsibility. Is there any? Are we as “individual, intelligent people” living on earth responsible for our actions? Well, who’s to say really. That’s part of being an individual with intelligence. We make our own choices, the government, your religion, your kids, your best friend, your parents can tell you how to act and whats right or wrong. But in the end it’s up to you, really it is. So what do I think? Hell yeah we’re responsible for our “own” actions, it’s the ripple effect. Everything you do has cause and effect. This is not only the way I was brought up, it’s also the philosophy I live by. My parents instilled this in me, however it was me who made the decision to accept this as part of my life, and to hold myself responsible for my own actions. What do you think? Are you socially responsible to demand whats right, by standing up and saying “hey, we need alternative energies!” because it’s right!

Alright, we have now come to the number one reason why we need to find and cultivate alternative sources of energy. It’s simple really, we’re running out of fossil fuels, fast. Do you know how long it takes for mother nature to make oil, or coal? A really long long time. Like, longer than humans have walked the earth. Since we have started using fossil fuels for energy, which has not been long mind you. We have devastated the earths supply. Some experts think we have “burned” through half of the earths fossil fuels since we started using them!

So lets take a logical look at this,

Fossil fuels take millions of years to make
Humans use all of them in 300 years give or take
What does this equal?

We are screwed if we do not do switch to Solar Power Cost fast. That’s all there is to it. Our society, our way of life, is energy. We are consumers of energy just like every organism on earth. However we use it, need it, not just to survive but to thrive as a modern species, and there is no reason why we cannot adapt to new ways to support our energy needs. We just need to stop pushing this under the carpet thinking somebody else will fix it, and accept that we have a problem. We all have a part in this drama, a responsibility to help out where we can. Can we do it? Of course we can. Will we do it? It’s not like we really have a choice do we.

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