Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
I mean 1873 and 1954 as the beginnings of solar cells kind of suggests we had manufacturing challenges to over come to make them viable. These manufacturing techniques were driven by the semi-conductor industry. So isn’t like we were sitting doing nothing in adjacent technologies.
So yes if solar panels did not exist today we could quickly accelerate to where we are today by utilizing the tech created in adjacent fields.
I think at most you would be talking 5 years.
|
People are also making the assumption that government/international involvement would have sped up technological advancement. As it is, all the major businesses in the world were already going full steam ahead with attempting to create better batteries, conductors, power sources, etc..
Government involvement is often horribly inefficient and can strangle innovation, not promote it. Even when governments get together on an international scale things often go horribly awry. Look at what happened with the Kyoto protocols. They were written in a way that didn't account for growing populations and gave both Russia and China no restrictions. If the Kyoto protocols had been followed, they would have forced Canada, Australia, and the USA to buy carbon credits from Russian and China. It's an absurd result that in no way accomplishes the goal of reducing carbon emissions.
Now imagine if companies like Sony, Mitsubishi, GE, etc.. had all been caught up in similar regimes. Regulated and then forced to pay tribute to totalitarian regimes. Historically, how much innovation has gone on when government regulation gets out of control? Almost all innovation comes from the private sector and from open societies.