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Pittsburgh showcases green economy at G20 summit

There has long been debate along left-right political lines about the viability of green energy and the large government funding needed to get renewable energy off the ground.

The $787 billion economic stimulus package that Obama signed into law in February included more than $60 billion in clean energy investments.

A green economy would boost energy independence and reduce a chronic US trade deficit, advocates say. But that dream is still far away: solar and wind power accounted for just 0.6 percent of US energy consumption in 2008, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Another selling point for a green economy is that a green collar work force earns 10 percent to 20 percent more than other jobs, the Council of Economic Advisors has said. And those jobs are more likely to be union jobs, the council said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated in May 2008 there were 9.9 million people employed in US production, and 3.3 million in computer and mathematical sciences, where salaries averaged $74,500 a year, more than double that of manufacturing.

For all the talk about jump-starting the US economy and spurring jobs, some say that impact has yet to be felt.

"I hear a lot of thunder, but I see no rain," said John Bucher, a senior executive at Solar Power Industries, where Mihalek works.

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But costs still outweigh benefits and industry experts say grid parity is a tipping point that is several years away. Grid parity refers to when solar costs come in line with the cost of electricity from the power grid.

"If the incentives aren't there, then it's hard to justify the price of the system itself," Bucher said.

Investors have made big bets on solar energy. There are about 45 publicly traded companies in the sector whose market capitalization is about $50 billion.

A number of catalysts could spark a sudden conversion to solar panels, as was seen with the rapid adoption of cell phones in the late 1990s, said Shawn Kravetz, president of Esplanade Capital LLC in Boston, who has a fund dedicated to solar energy.

A tipping point could come earlier than many think, perhaps by 2011, especially if carbon taxes or a cap-and-trade program aimed at limiting carbon emissions comes about, Kravetz said. A fall in panel prices, cheap financing and the first solar panel to go up in a neighborhood are enough to spark sales, he said.

"People are more aware that solar isn't a newfangled technology, it's by-and-large a 30-year-old technology that works," he said. "We just need to get the cost to where it's cost effective, and where, thanks to some government support, we're finally there."

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