Because renewable energy is the most strategic investment we can make. It’s certainly not economical, given the current market conditions, where solar power is delivered at about $0.30/kWh and coal-generated power arrives for only $0.05/kWh (in February, 2011). But in an environment that is rapidly growing, rapidly urbanizing, and increasingly subject to ‘Black Swan’ events, we don’t have time for economics to catch up with the real world.

Additionally, if energy is power (and it quite literally is), then we might find a democratizing effect when we become able to produce our own. In the same way that the Internet and computers have revolutionized the creative industries (music, film, and books), clean, localized energy production and distribution could have a similar effect on the military and political industrial complexes that cause so much of human suffering.

From Why To How

The first step is to change our mindset, from consumption-oriented activity towards production-oriented activity. After the attacks of 9-11, President George W. Bush encouraged the nation to ‘go shopping’, but he could have alternatively suggested that we ‘go investing’, or ‘go producing’, still with an eye towards stabilizing the economy. Economists will argue that boosting production without an increase in demand will achieve nothing but falling prices and a shrinking economy. But there is a special case to be made for energy. Unlike big-screen TVs or SUVs or (insert conspicuous consumption item of choice), there is everywhere a growing demand for energy. Life requires it.

Currently, the economics for renewable energy are not favorable except in those areas blessed with high winds, flowing rivers or geo-thermal activity. Large corporations can leverage their economies of scale and install solar arrays on factory rooftops, but for most of us, this kind of investment is still prohibitively expensive. Governments are experimenting with incentive mechanisms, like feed-in tariffs, but already early pioneers like Germany and Ontario are scaling back their subsidies.

But we should not let that stop us.

Enter the ‘Solar Co-op’.

Solar energy is well suited to a cooperative sensibility. Energy, like food, is both readily produced, and readily consumed, but capital intensive in its production and distribution. As we saw over the last century with farming co-ops, there are many economies of scale that can be leveraged when small producers collaborate for mutual benefit.

Industrial-scale production, in the form of massive solar farms, would maximize these efficiencies, but at the cost of stability for the whole system. Reliance on the most efficient producer (i.e. the biggest) can result in destructive complexities where crop failures in Canada and Russia cause a revolution in Egypt. Better to embrace a robust, distributed policy of rooftop (and barn-top) generation. The beauty of micro-generation is that, unlike food, the ongoing operation and maintenance costs of these systems are minimal, allowing producers to continue to generate wealth in other parts of the economy. In other words, we can keep our day jobs.

As we allocate scarce resources away from consumption and invest in renewable energy production, we set the economy on a course towards sustainable growth. The importance of this productive capacity will be of even greater importance if you happen to think that climate change will eventually put a heavy tax on carbon-based energy, whether we like it or not.

Solar Goes Social

Good neighbourliness is something of a lost art, as younger generations spend an increasing amount of their social time online. But the new social media environment also presents opportunities to network in ways that were previously limited by geography and mobility. These new forms of connection might be an important element in mobilizing enthusiasm and resources towards the creation of solar co-ops.

At the end of the day, the journey towards a sustained solar cooperative movement that is capable of putting panels on all our roofs in the near future will require a level of connection and trust that comes only through a shared space and a shared purpose. Whether this comes through new social media, old-fashioned community organizing, or a combination of the two, the imperative remains: get to know your neighbour and be willing to talk about the requirements for a brighter (no pun intended) future.