Sun power rising Solar energy: Finally, alternative source finds a niche and takes off.

FOR FREDERICK-BASED Solarex, the future is suddenly bright. For the first time in years, the solar-power business is growing -- at 20 percent a year. Third World countries see solar energy as a cheap way to bring electricity to thousands of far-flung villages. New technology has dramatically cut production costs and raised energy efficiency. Within a decade, the price of solar may yet be competitive with oil and gas.

This is a marked change for an industry that has failed to meet expectations since Jimmy Carter pointed to solar energy as a cheap alternative to oil in the 1970s. It has always been a clean and renewable source of power, but until recently it failed the marketplace test.

The biggest change has been development of a "thin film" technology using silicon on glass panels. Suddenly, solar power makes sense for Third World countries, where two billion people live without electricity. India is building, with Solarex equipment, a giant photovoltaic power plant in the desert to light 10,000 homes. It has 200,000 villages that could utilize this technology. Other prime solar candidates are Mexico, Egypt, China, Mongolia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia.

In the United States, solar power is starting to find niches in the Sunbelt. Next year, commercial sales will begin of a solar shingle for residential rooftops and a new device for commercial buildings. Southern California has started to tap into solar's potential to power mountaintop telecommunications sites, street lights, bus shelters, highway emergency call boxes and rest rooms in state parks.

Solarex' sales rose 30 percent last year, mostly overseas. With 300 workers in its distinctive Frederick headquarters and a production plant under development in Virginia, the company -- co-owned by energy heavyweights Enron and Amoco -- is in an enviable position. This new rush to solar could yet make it a viable energy alternative in our lifetime.

Pub Date: 5/10/96