Philip WarburgReseñas

My husband and I are firm believers in man made climate change so we try and do what we can to mitigate our impacts on the earth. When we built our little yurt we did so with as many energy saving measures as we could afford. We are hoping to add solar and this book was an excellent resource to have on hand as my husband did some research. It offered a lot of hands on information and stayed apolitical. The only thing really missing was a more comprehensive list of resources. It is well written and easy to read.

We recently put in a solar array. Our local Solar company was extremely helpful and knowledgeable and helped educate us. This book was the perfect companion - giving a great history of solar as well as a look toward the future. I am using the book to lend to friends when we talk to them about our system and the benefits of installing one.

Summary: A survey of the spread of solar power throughout the U.S. telling the stories of how different communities are utilizing this power source, and the technological, industry, and political challenges this growth faces.

I've had thoughts of installing a solar power array on our roof. We have a south-facing roof that gets lots of sunlight (when the sun is shining in somewhat-cloudy Ohio). Right now, we have a few more years on our current roof, and a few other projects ahead in line. But what I read in this book suggests that this is not a completely crazy idea, particularly if costs continue to drop.

Warburg surveys the different ways solar is being utilized around the country. He begins with his own experience of installing a solar array in his home in Massachusetts. He pointed out something I hadn't realized--that solar is actually more efficient in cold weather when there is sun. His array has actually provided about 75 percent of his power needs.

He moves on from his personal experiences to the implementation of solar in the commercial world, from ball parks to big box stores. What all these offer are large areas of flat roof surfaces that can be covered with solar arrays. He narrates how communities are implementing solar to move toward a "zero net energy" state, particularly in the sunny west. Perhaps most inspiring, coming from a rustbelt town was how some communities, including Chicago, are using brownfield areas to set up solar arrays, involving far less clean-up than other purposes, and turning unproductive properties into revenue producing assets.

As he talks about the use of desert lands to set up arrays, he discusses the trade-offs that come with any technology, including the use of water to remove desert sand from panels, the impacts on wild-life, particularly in the use of concentrating solar power where an array of miracles are focused on a central point. Bird can literally be fried mid-air. Yet this also needs to be set against how many birds are killed by vehicles each year. There are other trade-offs in setting up solar arrays on Indian lands. On one hand, this is far healthier than coal-fired plants located near some of these lands, and yet other projects including casinos have a much better pay-off.

He also talks about the life-cycle of solar panels, which last 25 to 35 years optimally (some imports have had problems and lasted shorter times). One of the challenges is how to recycle these safely since they utilize some highly toxic materials. Yet it is important to offset these challenges with those of other technologies. Nuclear waste is far more hazardous. The environmental impacts of mining and burning coal and the costs of sequestering emissions also needs to be weighed. And all this brings Warburg to the economic challenges of solar, from its competition with other energy sources to the economic arrangements between power companies and array owners, sometimes individuals.

Whether or not you are convinced (I am but don't want to argue about it) that anthropogenic (caused by humans) emissions of carbon dioxide are contributing to global warming, the case this book argues makes sense to me. One estimate is that the solar potential of the U.S. is one hundred times our power needs. Rooftop solar alone could provide one-fifth of our power needs. Compared to coal or even natural gas, it is a far "cleaner" power source, which has health impacts as well as environmental impacts. While some solar startups like Solyndra have failed, a number of others have created jobs in manufacturing, installation, and maintenance of arrays. I also like the idea of not being completely reliant on our power company (we've nicknamed them Awfully Erratic Power), which primarily generates power from coal.
I would have appreciated some resources (beyond his own experience) for consumers (residential and commercial) contemplating solar. Perhaps that is another book but a chapter or appendix would have been helpful. Overall, I appreciated the highly informative yet balanced survey of the field of solar power. It makes a case that I hope our new administration pays heed to. Our carbon-fuel interests, as powerful as they are, represent only one economic community of interest, and frankly, we risk ceding leadership in this field to other nations if we only heed the interests of the big coal and natural gas. In my mind, that wouldn't be so great.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher via LibraryThing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Harness The Sun
(Philip Warburg)

For me, the purpose of this read was to come to a better understanding of solar energy.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a comprehensive discussion
beginning with the Warburg's personal journey (Our House, Your House) to epilogue (Our Solar Future).
There were brief notes on terminology and an interesting introduction.
I did proceed slowly through the body of the book, sometimes more interested than other times.
Admittedly, it is a heavy topic.
Acknowledgments, notes, bibliography and index are extensive.
But, there is something here for everyone.
Although there are arms of resistance, Warburg tells us that "a new generation of entrepreneurs and engineers are weighing in with vision and creativity..."
"The tools for advancing a more sustainable energy future are within reach. It is our obligation and privilege to use them."

quotation from Harness The Sun pg 192

book rec'd from Library Thing giveaway

Interested in solar power? This book by Philip Warburg is a good history of solar power and an introduction challenges and usage of solar power. A lot of good information about the different issues that faced anyone wanting to use solar power, especially towns and counties that went against some of the power houses. Recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about an alternative to fossil fuels.

Philip Warburg's book provides an excellent comprehensive summation of the state of solar energy today. He discusses the subject from all angles, from the environmental to the economic to the political. The book explains the different kinds of solar energy in the numerous settings and applications, whether on commercial buildings, sports arenas, or residential settings. The political ramifications, both domestic and international, are examined. And the discussion is kept from being too abstract by the author's discussion of his own personal experience with solar installation, bringing it home to the reader who wants to put it into his own reality. A very good basic book, totally scientific, professional, and sophisticated, yet not too abstruse for the intelligent reader.

I've followed the various permutations of industrialization of the desert since the 1970's. In 40 years of watching I've seen enormous mistakes made as the US struggles toward sustainable energy production. The practical experience gained by the author in adding solar panels and buying an electric vehicle is useful for a homeowner. However, I was less confident of his selections of winners and losers in his review of companies interested in mega-scale projects that cover more desert land. Warburg did a credible job of complicated systemic and policy problems and prospects in the US vs. China and the world in photovoltaic solar panels, but those industry decisions were not made with the long term interests of the employees at the front. Of course he found some "Homers" to quote in Nevada, and dismissed impacts under long distance transmission lines by offering them up for more solar panels. He has no matching understanding of the impacts to human and natural world interactions of the energy selection decisions. The list of fundamental questions about energy futures and climate change, in a chapter on "Disrupting the Untility Status Quo," is commendiable. To appreciate the current confused state of affairs, this chapter should be required reading for all existing and former rate payers.

Author Philip Warburg tackles the topic of solar energy covering many aspects of this clean energy issue. If you are thinking about possibly installing solar panels in your home or simply want to educate yourself about the industry and its role in sustainable sources, this is a good read for you. I enjoyed learning about the authors installation of solar panels in his home in Massachusetts and how he and his wife also use an electric car. It is fascinating to learn how far solar power has come in the last few years. If you are interested in this topic, I suggest you read this book and travel with the author as he finds out about all the ways people are using solar power both in industry and personally!

This is a good general reference for the state of solar power in the USA as of 2015. The author covers residential, business and utility scale solar power generation. He also covers 2 methods, photovoltaic and concentrating methods. The good news is that solar is efficient, cost-effective and gaining acceptance everywhere. This is a very good thing as it reduces our dependency on carbon dioxide electricity generating methods. The author crossed the country to review small, medium and huge projects all over and discusses how these project co-exist with established utility companies.
i do wish he'd spent a little more time on the challenges of solar power electric generation, but in general this was a good reference.

Interesting book on the potential for solar power. My only disappointment was that it didn't give specific suggestions on how to implement a solar array at my own home.

Harness the Sun, by Philip Warburg, is a very well-written and informative read. I appreciate the author’s enthusiasm, as well as the research he did for this book. I also liked his objectivity in presenting potential downsides or objections to renewables.

I think a diverse sustainable energy portfolio is not only important, but crucial for long-term economic and environmental viability. I enjoyed this book, and recommend it to anyone interested in our energy future, as well as anyone who still believes that shifting to sustainable energy sources is not a worthwhile option.

This is an early review book I received through Librarything.com Early Reviewers. The description says that it is a book about America's solar revolution. The early reviewer blurb said"Solar power was once the domain of futurists and environmentally minded suburbanites. Today it is part of mainstream America—and the solar industry is absolutely booming, as it adds workers almost twenty times faster than the overall US economy. Beginning in his Boston-area home, where a rooftop solar array meets most of his family’s power needs, Philip Warburg travels the country and introduces readers to a surprising array of pioneers who are spearheading America’s solar revolution, from conservative business leaders and politicians to students and professors committed to greening their campuses. Pollution-ravaged urban industrial areas and Native American groups alike are finding that solar offers the key to revitalizing their communities—all while weaning the country off of fossil fuels. In Harness the Sun, Warburg argues that solar offers a realistic solution to the urgent problem of transforming our energy sector in a way that meets demand and is technically and economically viable." It sounded so fascinating and when I realized I won it, I was really exciting. The same week it came we had a scheduled appointment with a representative from SolarCity to look into putting solar panels on our own home, it seemed very timely and relevant to my own life at the time. Then I began to read the book and I was disappointed.
The first three chapters were very tedious for me to get through, and took me almost two weeks to read. There were so many facts about business using solar, which was great to know. But the facts were not really about the company's journey to solar as much as it was about the cost benefit and the details of the business themselves. It felt like a sales pitch to me, look we are using solar because it is cheaper, and it is great PR that we are going green, buy from us. I was dreading the thought of reading 7 more chapters of this.
Then in Chapter 4, it finally got interesting. Warburg began talking about the politics and controversies behind building solar fields on brown fields. Brownfield is a term used in urban planning to describe land previously used for industrial purposes or some commercial uses. Such land may have been contaminated with hazardous waste or pollution or is feared to be so. Once cleaned up, such an area can become host to a business development such as a retail park. It made a lot of sense to me to re-use this land in a positive way. Finally here was some meat and some interesting controversies and benefits of solar energy. I began to enjoy the reading. But then it petered out again, and I couldn't finish i. I wanted to, but I just couldn't do it. It was too dry and it just couldn't keep my attention. I found myself resenting it for the time it was taking away from books I could be enjoying. I left my bookmark it, but I just wasn't willing to force myself to slog through it anymore.
For additional reviews please see my blog at www.adventuresofabibliophile.blogspot.com

I requested this book because we added solar panels to our home a year or so ago. We were pleased to do so. This book confirmed that we were wise to do our research first and that there are a dizzying array of options for homeowners and businesses to become a part of the solar-family.
The book could easily have been dry and boring as all get-out, but Philip Warburg is a superb writer. He researched the subject well and talked to a wide variety of people in order to write a balanced book. And he can relay the solar story in such a way as to grab the reader's attention and hold on. Yes, there are graphs, but easily comprehensible ones. He chapters each section well and entertainingly.
People are definitely people in this book. The wealthy who do not want to have to look upon a solar farm next to their country estate, the inner city dwellers who are thrilled to see that solar farm out their windows instead of a barren wasteland. The businesses and cities who embrace alternate energy possibilities. The arrogance of some that are absolutely sure that global warming is not our fault, it just naturally happens.
The US is far behind the curve of utilizing solar energy than the rest of the world. We have some catching up to do.
A definite recommend.

A comprehensive overview of the current (published 2015) state and potential of the solar power industry in America. From small rooftop residential and commercial installations to utility scale photovoltaic and concentrating solar power facilities (some of which are designed to store excess energy to be distributed during peak demand!), federal and state incentives have been crucial to initial development. Concerns over environmental/wildlife and cultural/historical impacts have complicated/deterred larger projects (mostly in the desert), but the ability to utilize industrial brownfield sites is promising. Price competition from foreign manufacturers is weighed against often higher domestic manufacturing standards and the larger issue of global warming. While advances are being made in efficiency and longevity, responsible recycling of PV panels, etc. still requires guidelines/legislation. Comparing carbon emissions from "cradle to grave" of solar versus coal, gas, and nuclear, Warburg hammers the point that solar power (in conjunction with other renewable sources of energy) isn't only a viable option, but a necessity. Several states have set significant renewable energy mandates for coming years, but the EU is leading the way in solar, despite America's vastly greater potential.

I wasn't too thrilled with this book, found it to be a bit dry. My husband on the other had LOVED it, so I will give it 4 stars.

We have solar energy since the 80's to heat our water and run our home. Both in Ohio and Texas we have found it to be a wonderful way to do both. This is a well-written books, easy to easy and full of interesting facts. The book takes you from a sign family experience with new Photovoltaic (PV) experience to mega farms that produce town size electricity.
Easy to understand descriptions of the author"s experiences makes the discussions fell personal. The author is not afraid to discuss both the good and bad news on PV panels and incorporation into the electric grid. Our electric bill last month was 17.00 for the electricity. Book is worth reading.

I won this book Harness the Sun: American's Quest For A Solar-Powered Future By: Philip Warburg in exchange for an honest review.

I will admit I requested this book because I was interested at the time (not just to win something...I really was completely interested) but when I received it(many weeks ago) I held off reading because I was not in the mind frame to read a book of this kind. I decided to stop wasting time and tackle it because I did want to know more about the environment in which we live and how solar-power will work to our benefit. I must say it is an interesting read. Although not very savvy when it comes to knowing information about our world/environment issues and solar energy I felt the content was quite informative. Yes, I will admit at times I was bored..and skimmed a few pages here and there..again I am not the most savvy when it comes to environment issues so that could a played a part in the boredom. Still, I am glad I tackled this read..I am glad to know a little more about solar energy and how it will play into our lives in the future. I walked away from this book having gained something...KNOWLEDGE, at least a little more than what I had before this book. And I was happily surprised at myself that I got into a discussion with family where I actually referenced from this book.

I recommend this book. It can be intimidating..it can be confusing for someone who is not very affluent in such a topic..but you will finish this book knowing something..gaining the author's point of view on solar energy and even wanting to know more and gain your own opinions and thoughts on the matter.

I won this book through a LibraryThing giveaway and was sent a copy by the publisher, Beacon Press, in exchange for my honest review. Thank you.

Philip Warburg is so passionate about renewable energy that his strong and positive feelings rubbed off on me. He did a tremendous amount of research on solar power to write this book and I have great admiration for him. He writes about solar power's history, it's acceptance, and what to expect in the future. He interviewed more than 120 people: individuals who have solar power and those like me who wish they did, CEOs, construction workers, engineers, biologists, Native American leaders, and conservationists. Some of the interviews seemed repetitive to me and, since I am not a technical person, I felt lost during the technical discussions.

My limited experience using solar power consists of a solar-heated, in-ground swimming pool and a solar panel on the roof of my hybrid car. I was delighted to be able to learn more about this topic.

Since solar power does have some downsides, those are covered also. Mr. Warburg listened to those who object and offers them positive feedback.

I was disappointed to learn how far the U.S. lags behind other countries in the use of solar energy. There are charts and graphs, some organized by the top states who leading in solar construction. It was interesting to see where my state is listed.

For anyone interested in solar energy, this book by a very knowledgeable author is educational and provides information on many aspects of this subject.

A note about these newly posted non-link reviews.

This is another book from the LibraryThing.com “Early Reviewers” program, and, unfortunately, after a string of quite good selections from LTER, this one is definitely back in the “meh” category. As you may recall, I also write a blog for the Chicago Tribune's “ChicagoNow” blogging platform, called Green Tech Chicago, so I keep an eye out for a lot of renewable energy stories, and I've come to expect a certain level of … well, interesting … which isn't front-and-center in Philip Warburg's Harness the Sun: America's Quest for a Solar-Powered Future. Since finishing reading this, I've been trying to “put my finger on” what specifically I found unappealing with it, and I think I've finally figured that out. In most material on “green energy”, there's a forward-looking aspect which promises great things in the future, often over-blown gee-whiz stuff, but hooks to get you excited about what's being discussed. This is true from GenIV reactors to mustard plants as a oil source, to tidal turbines, to solar satellites, etc. Those stories grip the imagination and pull you in to the tech involved. Not so much here.

For something subtitled “America's Quest for a Solar-Powered Future” (there I go again with taking exception with a book's subtitle), there's very little “future” focus here. Frankly, this reads like a series of very serious, diligently researched, but ultimately uninspiring newspaper stories … if not a collection of excerpts from quarterly reports from various industry players. The ten chapters here look at different applications of solar technology – as it's presently implemented – and anchors the stories by featuring individuals involved in those businesses. If this was a series of “investigative journalism” pieces on “the state of solar”, it would sort of make sense, but in this context they're just (to me at least) awfully bland.

Now, I will admit that I've probably read more about this stuff than most folks have, so things that are “new and exciting” to me are pretty thin here. I ended up with just two little bookmarks stuck in the book … albeit one of them highlighting a fascinating system of using molten salt (a combination of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate) to store heat:

Heated to more that 1,000 F, the molten salt flows in large steel collector pipes down to the base of the concrete tower. From there it can be channeled to a heat exchanger that uses the captured energy to create steam for a power-generating turbine – if there's an immediate demand for electricity. Alternatively, there super-heated fluid can be pumped into a 3.6 million gallon stainless-steel storage tank just few dozen feet from the tower.

And the tower in question is an indication on how huge that project, Crescent Dunes, is … it's as big as a 50-story building and stands at the center of 17,500 mirrors, each of which is about 140 square yards in size. I only wish there was that much “cool stuff” to note from every site the author visited.

Frankly, this might have been intentionally boring, as in the note sent out by the publisher with it, they say it's a pragmatic report on the current state of affairs, which would explain why there's so much stuff in here on government regulations (and give-aways by the current administration), supply chain and manufacturing issues, conflicts between the “green energy” folks and various environmental organizations (a lot of these installations have had to go to great lengths to make sure a wide array of critters didn't get disrupted), and assorted international political concerns (even going so far to suggest that having cheap Chinese solar panels destroy the American solar industry might be a good thing because it would accelerate the installed base of solar energy).

It could also be the case that the book just didn't appeal to me because its author is very likely the sort that I would dislike in person … he's an attorney, a “community organizer” (like somebody else I can't stand), has worked for various governmental entities, and has been a lawyer for a handful of Environmental NGOs … this is not a resume that speaks of “vision” – a Peter Diamandis he's not. If the phrase “written by a lawyer” has the same icky negative vibe for you as it does for me … you'll get the sense of what I see as wrong with Harness the Sun.

On the other hand, the material here is certainly well-researched, with a couple of dozen of pages of small-type footnotes supporting his arguments and assertions, and he includes a “selected bibliography” with over a hundred documents. If you wanted to have a “snapshot” of the solar industry today (it just came out a few weeks ago, so I'm guessing the info is as current as possible), this will give it to you. But … it's not exactly gripping. Perhaps tellingly, even though this is brand new, the on-line big boys have it at a substantial discount, and the new/used vendors have new copies going for about 10% of the cover price. If you are looking for an overview of the solar industry, this is the book for you … as it is an extensive look at pretty much all the types of operations in place in the US … but if you're looking for something to get excited about, maybe not.




CMP.Ly/1

A link to my "real" review:
BTRIPP's review of Philip Warburg's "Harness the Sun: America's Quest for a Solar-Powered Future" (877 words)

Philip Warburg, author of Harness The Sun, has written an informative and compelling book about the past, present, and future of solar power in our country. Traveling across the country and interviewing individuals as well as public and private officials, he writes of the struggles, failures, and successes of this expanding industry. Reducing our carbon footprint becomes increasingly important as we’re faced with the very real threat of climate change. He is careful to provide definitions and details that enable the general public to understand the concept of solar power and the technology behind it. He provides fascinating information on the growth of the industry in such diverse settings as large sport complexes and what he labeled as brownfield sites, such as landfills and vacant and underutilized sites. I am a member of the general public and feel after reading the book I have a good grasp of the future of solar power in this country.

This is a valuable educational resource about the solar industry, explaining the need to decrease the rising problem of greenhouse gases within the atmosphere by using renewable energy will help clean up the environment. One example of a solar project was two fold, first by using these photovoltaic panels to generate electricity over a parking area helps reduce the electric cost while also supplying shade for customers below to keep this area cool, this becomes very useful in very hot climates where shade is limited. If you're thinking about going solar, this book will give you some very valuable information, if installing solar is right for you.½

My first encounter with solar power was a solar hot water heater on a house in Miami in the eighties. This was simply an array of tubes through which water was pumped, absorbing heat from the sun. (Difficulty obtaining replacement parts and Hurricane Andrew put an end to it.) As I learned from this book, we have come a long way since then. Most solar power now comes from photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert LIGHT from the sun into electrical energy. Some large installations use mirrors to concentrate HEAT from the sun, which is typically used to create steam to power a conventional turbine. Some of these plants use molten salt as the heat absorbing medium, which has the advantage of allowing the heat to be stored effectively and used during night hours.

The author takes us to a wide range of installations, including home rooftops, commercial buildings, sports venues, huge arrays of panels (or mirrors) in desert locales, on unused farm land, on top of capped landfills or hazardous waste sites, even to PV panels floating on a water reservoir. He also educates us on various means of financing these installations. He does not avoid describing objections raised by various parties - danger to birds flying through the concentrated heat plants; disturbance of the habitat of native creatures, some on the endangered species list; use of scarce water supplies to clean the panels; impact on views from others' properties; Native American concerns about using reservation land; and the list goes on.

We also learn that the U.S. is lagging far behind the European Union in developing this source of energy, which seems so necessary if we are to reduce our carbon footprint. At the end of the book, the author has some suggestions to accelerate the pace of acceptance of solar energy in our country.

In short, this is a comprehensive study of the entire subject. I do have a few "nits" to pick, however. I wish the author had not waited until three-quarters through the book to give us a good description of PV panels. I also think we sometimes get too much information; for me there were just too many interviews with too many people. Had I not been committed to writing this review, I probably would have skimmed through some of the material. These are just minor objections, though. I enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who wants a deeper understanding of renewable energy and its future.

Don't read this book if you are interested in the history or the physics of solar power. In fact, don't read this book unless you are only interested in reading a bunch of personal anecdotes about the current state of the solar industry and the different people involved. Warburg's book starts off with a detailed overview of the process to install solar panels in his own home in Massachusetts and then expands to cover solar panel across the United States. While there are many interesting characters in the solar industry, he seems to spend more time on them and then quickly rushes through denser policy and financing issues to move on to the next character study. People's motivations and nuances is always interesting to me but sadly this was not what I was expecting to be reading about in this book.½