Solar Power
Energy statistics.
Wind power and many of the others alternative energies are limited by their placement and interference with our modern and natural world. On the other hand, solar panels will not necessarily blight the landscape nor place too much of a burden on our built environment. In other words, solar panels can go just about anywhere and nobody will complain.
The impact solar panels could have on our forced commitment to power companies could be huge. Everyone with a house could have at least 10 of them on the roof and generate 10KW per day. With 2 billion homes on the planet that equates to about 20000 GW per day or 20000 power stations worth of power.
With these vast sums that are admittedly theoretical because money comes into equation, they could nevertheless bring power to the people and almost rid the world of this continuing oil saga being played out with in Israel with Jewish bankers funding the US war machine to expand their nation and simultaneously pressurising OPEC into putting up oil prices to get some of the tremendous 8 trillion (12 noughts) US debt back. Solar panels are not necessarily perceived as the sort of technology that would require years of bloodshed fuelled by an irresponsible sense of greed. And maybe the lack of big dollar signs is the reason alternative energies have been in the backwoods for so long. Not any more.
I digress, but solar panels and alternative energies promise a great deal for the normal guy in the street. Like peace. According to Wikipedia the total installed peak power from solar panels up to end of 2005 is just 5.3 GW and according to a recent report by Frost and Sullivan for period ending Feb 2006, the installed generating capacity is over 4 GW. Which surprises me, because this means that there is about 13 times more power being generated by wind power than by solar at the moment.
For a qualified picture from the solar industry have a look at www.solarbuzz.com/FastFactsIndustry.htm and www.oja-services.nl/iea-pvps/isr/31.htm. Both have concise and interesting facts about solar power.