This book investigates the economic effects of investing in solar energy technologies, given assumptions about the cost of the technologies, and the amount of solar energy that can be supplied. It makes long-range projections of economic growth and capital investment in the 1980-2000 period.

First published 1982. Twice during the 1970s -- the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973-74 and the tight oil market of 1978-79 associated with the political upheaval in Iran -- the U.S. economy experienced severe shocks as a result of massive price increases for imported oil. By 1980 the price for imported crude oil had increased to nearly twenty times the price in 1970. This book seeks to provide a basis for determining the macroeconomic effects of solar energy investments over the 1980 to 2000 time period. It structures its analysis in a multidimensional form, specifying variations in * conventional energy costs; * solar market penetration; * solar technology costs.