When solar is discussed it's usually in two different categories -- small scale for personal use and large scale projects which provide an alternative to coal, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants, all of which have significant environmental impacts.

With the recent earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan, the fragility of nuclear power has been exposed. Coal power, the most commonly used source of energy, is contributing to rising temperatures through the greenhouse effect which is already drastically altering the world's climate. Hydro-electric, while pollution free, requires massive habitat destruction during construction and use. All of these systems need to be replaced and renewable energies such as solar and wind are the best alternatives.

While it's true that there is an abundant source of unlimited energy hitting the earth every day of the year, there are some immediate disadvantages to large-scale adoption of this renewable form of energy. We've all seen images of massive solar arrays in the desert, with giant, glistening panels shining happily in the noon day sun. But there is a major drawback to this type of large-scale implementation of solar technology -- distribution.

The energy generated from those solar arrays cannot be efficiently delivered to homes and businesses hundreds or thousands of miles away as much of the gain gets lost in transmission. Additionally, the transmission lines are extremely expensive to maintain. New lines cost around $1.5 million PER MILE, making the development of new transmission lines very expensive.

Small scale solar however has none of these disadvantages. If placed close to home or work, solar panels lose virtually none of the energy they generate. Small scale solar also doesn't require expensive transmission lines, since the distance traveled is minor. An additional advantage to this option is that homes generating too much power can feed it back to the grid, further contributing to reducing the load needs of traditional power plants.

As the US is used to developing large scale power plants, a shift in focus will be necessary to put a massive investment into solar power. Subsidies and tax break models can replace the need for huge projects, moving the necessary funds into the hands of home and small businesses who can be responsible for installing, maintaining and using their own power systems.

Instead of hundreds of large-scale power generation systems, what's needed are tens of thousands of micro power plants. This shift in priority is utterly necessary if we are ever to transition to environmentally friendly forms of energy generation and hopefully avert a growing possibility of climate change catastrophe.

The author is an environmental activist who writes about the advantages of solar energy and offers suggestions about DIY solar panels and other small-scale solar options.

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