Sold on Solar

Fossil fuels are sooo twentieth century. Crude oil is way over fifty bucks a barrel, a gallon of gas is nearly three dollars, there's a war raging in a country with the second highest proven reserves of oil, and world demand for oil is increasing as countries like China are in the midst of a new industrial revolution. Thankfully, alternative energy technology continues to progress, and thanks to companies like Berkeley's Powerlight, the gap between the cost of power from fossil fuels versus solar panels continues to shrink. It should come as no surprise that companies such as BP and Shell have their own solar panel manufacturing divisions - shrewd businesspeople hedge their bets.

Yesterday marked the end of the four-day Solar Power 2004 conference, organized by the Solar Energy Industries Association. The big news in solar these days is light, flexible materials that can be styled in any number of ways - as roof tiles, as tent material, even as clothing. Interestingly enough, the war in Iraq has been a boon to solar energy research even as many critics decry it is a 'blood for oil' pact. Why? Because those night-vision goggles, GPS locators, satellite phones and ruggedized laptops need juice, the electrical grid is unreliable and batteries are both heavy and expensive. Many of the companies attending the conference have contracts with the Department of Defense, meaning today's weapons technologies will be tomorrow's iPod charger.

On Tuesday, Gavin Newsom addressed attendees, pointing out that city developments being built in the Bayview will sport solar panels - althought probably not enough to get the notorious Hunters Point power plant shut down. While we applaud Mayor Newsom for supporting solar power in the city, we wonder why he didn't respectfully decline the invitation, seeing as how he had to cross the picket line at the Hyatt Regency in order to attend. SFist hopes he at least felt really guilty.