As Americans prepare to enjoy the longest day of the year on Sunday, June
21 during the summer solstice, Applied
Materials, the global leader in Nanomanufacturing Technology™ solution,
has released a survey reflecting the general public's understanding and opinions
about solar energy. The findings indicate that a majority of people surveyed
believe in the potential of solar technology and want the U.S. government and
utilities to do more to speed its adoption, although some have outdated views.
“The summer solstice is a good time to celebrate the unique power of
the sun,” said Dr. Charles Gay, president of Applied Solar. “Applied
Materials is working to build a better understanding of how solar technology
can provide the country with energy that is efficient, beneficial and now cost-competitive
for peak usage in specific regions.”
According to the survey, Americans are calling for more solar energy and faster
integration of renewable power into the U.S. energy mix:
- Half of the people surveyed (50%) think the U.S. Government’s goal
to have 25% of its power generated by renewable energy by 2025 is too slow.
- Four out of five (81%) agree that solar energy should play a greater role
in meeting our nation’s energy needs in the next five years.
- More than two-thirds (68%) think utilities should include solar electricity
as a part of their energy generation.
- Just over half (52%) would be willing to pay more per month if their utility
company increased its use of renewable energy. But many consumers (41%) would
not be willing to pay more, demonstrating the important role that government
incentives, to bring down solar costs, will have on advancement of the technology.
Dispelling Myths and Providing Solar Solutions
“Applied Materials’ solar energy strategy is to bring significant
change to the solar industry by enabling lower cost-per-watt solutions for solar
photovoltaic (PV) cell manufacturing,” said Gay. “Our goal is to
make solar energy a more meaningful contributor to the global energy supply.”
One important step to meeting the company’s goal is to help educate the
public about the true potential of solar energy and refute common myths about
the sun as an energy source.
Considerable progress has been made advancing solar technology during the past
two decades, although many in the survey were not aware of this. Applied Materials,
for example, has introduced the SunFab Thin Film Line™, a fully integrated
production line for manufacturing the world’s largest solar panels. A
full-size SunFab panel measures 5.7m2, or four times the size of traditional
panels, and covers an area about the size of a garage door. These larger panels
will help increase solar energy output and drive down costs. Experience shows
that increasing scale reduces costs–for each doubling of solar installations
worldwide, the cost per watt of solar energy has declined by nearly 20%.
The survey also showed that Americans overestimate the amount of solar energy
used in this country. One in five people stated that 20% or more of our energy
comes from solar power. But solar energy accounts for less than 0.01% of U.S.
energy generation, even though solar is already cost-competitive with fossil
fuels for peak demand in such places as Hawaii, California and New York.
Another misconception held by over half of the persons surveyed is that solar
panel installations on homes are the most efficient way to harness solar energy.
In fact, “solar farms” represent an underutilized source for solar
energy. The United States could supply its entire energy needs by covering just
1.6% of its land area with solar cells. In fact, putting solar cells on 1% of
the area of global deserts would be sufficient to produce electricity for all
the people in the world.
Germany and Spain lead the world in solar energy use, thanks to the revolutionary
effect of government incentives. But one in four people surveyed believe that
the U.S. is the world leader. Policy changes at the federal, state and local
level can help the United States assume more of a leadership role in solar energy
use. Applied Materials, headquartered in the Silicon Valley, has the nanomanufacturing
technology and capabilities to accelerate the growth of the United States solar
market. A single Applied SunFab™ tandem junction thin film line can produce
enough panels to generate 80 MW of electricity each year, or enough to power
over 35,000 homes during peak hours. In addition to the environmental benefits,
a solar factory containing one SunFab line has the potential to generate an
estimated $2 billion of economic development and create over 2,500 local jobs
over five production years, according to an independent analysis.
To review the full findings of this survey and learn more about Applied Materials'
solar photovoltaic business, visit http://www.appliedmaterials.com/summer.
Survey Methodology
Applied Materials engaged Ketchum Global Research Network to design and analyze
a telephone survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults, comprised
of 200 adults in each of the following five states: New York, California, Colorado,
Texas and Florida. For purposes of the survey, renewable energy was defined
as energy generated from resources that are naturally replenished, such as sunlight,
wind, tides and geothermal heat. The survey was fielded by Braun Research from
June 5-8, 2009. The margin of error for the base sample is +/- 3.0% at the 95%
confidence level.