Smart Planet: If Airports in Tennessee could Save so much Power by Going Solar, Imagine How much Indian Airports CoSuld Save

mart Planet has this piece about the Chattanooga Airport in the beautiful state of Tennessee saving 90,000 kWh of power in a year by putting up 4.5 acres of solar panels over the airport. I am guessing that these are early generation solar PVs - the latest from Semprius Solar are three times as efficient. Just imagine how much electricity could be saved, how much pollution could be reduced from the thermal powerplants that generate power in India, and how much less load shedding there would be in the rest of the country because of power saved, if this readily available technology were used more often. Large government buildings could also be an excellent mounting platform for these PVs for even more power savings. And, of course, there are the new private sector buildings - software parks, malls, large apartment condominiums and so on. The potential is immense. Someone is going to show some initiative one of these days and do something good. My guess is that whoever this first mover is, is going to end up laughing all the way to the bank. If I were to bet on a company to do this, my bet would be on the Tatas. Let's see where this goes . . .