Many important things are happening in the energy market these days. The use of shale oil and gas has led America towards energy independence, methane hydrates under the sea could be an important resource for Japan, and solar energy is making great strides.
The problem with solar energy has always been that of cost, which was not competitive with that of energy from traditional sources. But, as in the case of "fracking", not enough account had been taken of the progress of technology, which has allowed information technology to churn out ever more powerful computers at ever lower costs.
In some cases, progress in the production and efficiency of photovoltaics has made it possible to arrive at the sacred chalice, the parity grid, ie the parity of the cost of solar energy, without subsidies, compared to the cost of energy from coal or oil.
The fate of solar energy, at this point, is inextricably linked, even if it may seem strange, to the fate of electric cars. The disadvantage of solar energy is that it cannot be stored. But electric cars, if the projections of their bright future are true, will be able to exploit night-time charges. The redesign of the consumption peaks will therefore see the traditional energy absorbed by the recharges at night and allocate a greater part of the solar energy to daytime consumption.
