Lowering The Costs Of Green Energy
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Technology always starts out priced high and eventually comes down to more affordable prices as more technology solves problems. What this translates to is that “technology solves technological problems” and lowers costs as a result of its adoption. This mantra can easily be seen in the green energy space, where the actual process and product is seen as revolutionary and positive, yet the costs of production still outweigh those of fossil fuels. This means that for many years, even though the technology is superior to burning fossil fuels to create electricity, the higher costs made it lack support from the public. Those interested in promoting wind and solar energy are generally doing so to reduce pollution and damaging greenhouse gas effects, because they cannot yet make the argument that it is less expensive to produce. This means they face the difficult task of convincing others that paying more is worth it, and the benefits to the environment are worth more than the extra money in your pocket. Should the costs of production become lower than fossil fuels, rest assured that the public would be calling for services to be expanded so as to be able to power more areas than ever before, as a cost saving measure. Nobody can argue with cheaper and cleaner, but right now we are only cleaner.
Technologically the advancements that can be seen to drive the costs down are through the manufacture of less expensive parts that are used in the power production process, and the extension of the life span of those parts. The costs of green energy are not in the fuel source, but instead in the repair and replacement of the parts used in the process itself. The exposed solar panels and wind turbine blades get damaged as a result of weather including lightning strikes and need to be replaced. The power surges that follow a lightning strike damage equipment that is connected to the strike point will create the necessity for repair or replacement in order to restore service. This can come at any time, and when it comes while free fuel sources like wind and sun are being wasted while the systems are not functioning. Through technological advancements we are finding that companies are discovering cheaper methods of manufacturing solar panels and the composite wind turbine blades. We are also finding that better surge protection devices are enabling these systems to sustain less damage because of the inevitable lighting strikes. Preventative maintenance like surge protective devices enable systems to be restored to functionality faster with lower amounts of damage. This produces more electricity from the available sun and wind, as well as reduces the overall costs that are found to produce a single unit of electricity. This means that over time, technology will allow us to reduce the costs of the production of electricity using green production methods to below that of burning fossil fuels, thus improving the world by reducing greenhouse gasses and at the same time making power less expensive for all people.
