Solar Exceeding Expectations

Not only is solar energy becoming popular, it’s becoming popular faster than people expected. Within the US it was expected that solar installations have finally crossed the million unit mark. Then, someone actually counted. It wasn’t actually a person, but people directed satellites to take pictures which were then analyzed to count the solar panels spotted. Instead of the 1.02 million expected they found 1.47 million. That’s arguably low. The study only included high-density areas in the lower 48 states. Adding Alaska and Hawaii, plus rural areas makes the total higher. The greatest enablers are expected to be the amount of sunshine, naturally, and income levels. Many places with a lot of sunshine are populated by people without much money. Many people who could benefit from cheap, renewable, decentralized, pollution-free power have a different definition of cheap because they have so little wealth or income. Regardless, solar power is making more progress than most people know, even the experts.

“Forget Cats, This Neural Network Spots Solar Panels” – IEEE Spectrum