Reducing institutional barriers to solar energy through the use of cooperatively-owned solar energy systems
Despite the conceptual attractiveness of solar energy systems for space-heating applications, the market penetration rate of solar systems remains low. The physical, economic, and institutional barriers to acceptance that cause this disappointing performance are closely related to the present political, social, and economic structure, and so are proving difficult and time-consuming to lower. However, aggregating small solar systems into larger cooperative ventures can avoid many of these barriers altogether. This “product-fit” approach could greatly increase the diffusion rate of solar energy systems into the economy, thereby replacing fossil-fuel uses sooner and to a greater extent than previously expected.
Barriers to the widespread utilization of residential solar energy: The prospects for solar energy in the U.S. housing industry
Residential solar energy applications can provide a significant fraction of the U.S. energy budget. However, to do so, they must be combined with other energy-conserving strategies and diffused rapidly throughout the housing industry. Discussed are the potential resistances to the diffusion of solar energy within the U.S. housing industry; implications for the application of residential solar energy are treated.Richard Schoen is an architect and faculty member of the University of California at Los Angeles' School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He is also a staff consultant to the Solar Energy Team at Caltech.An earlier version of this paper was prepared and delivered at the International Solar Energy Conference, “Le soleil au service de l'homme,” Paris, July 2–6, 1973.
Raising the Productivity of Energy Utilization
A detailed economic analysis is made of the physical options for energy conservation. The study shows that savings of 30 to 40 percent of the expected future total energy demand in the US would be far less expensive than supplying the increased amounts of fuel and electricity dictated by the extrapolation of historical trends. Information is included on the interrelationships of energy use, energy sources, energy conservation economics, standard-of-living, employment, political action, and the quality of the environment. 156 references. (LCL)