IV.2 How could. SPS development lead to decentralization of social institutions and decision-making structures? The DOE assessment of the SPS has not formally dealt with this question, so that this answer must be speculative in nature. This question and the preceding one presume that decentralized energy systems lead to decentralization of social institutions and decisionmaking. Frankel39 and Stiefel^O suggest that this may not necessarily be the case. Both see the possibility that distributed solar energy technologies could be mass-produced, by huge factories and distributed to consumers by national (or international) merchandisers. Stiefel suggests that large corporations are ideally suited for mass-producing and distributing the many units needed for decentralized systems. This situation would engender some degree of individual ownership and control, but produce no fundamental change in the institutional or economic structure of society. There are a number of ways by which SPS development could encourage decentralization: - photovoltaics research could lead to more cost-effect ground- based systems for end-use applications - mining, refining and manufacture of photovoltaic materials and other system components will have some, as yet undetermined, impact on employment and population growth in rural areas; the result could be some shift in the balance of economic power between rural and urban areas and geographic regions of the country - SPS development could contribute to overall stability in energy supply and prices, relieve long-term inflationary pressures and give individuals more confidence in making decisions about the future (ergo decreased sense of "being powerless") It does not follow that because SPS development will require a high degree of central direction, decentralizing trends will be thwarted. Janowitz, in his book The Last Half-Century; Societal Change and Politics in America, discusses the War on Poverty and concludes that strong central planning is essential for genuine decentralization. Consider, 39 ~—————————— Frankel, Some Thoughts on Solar Energy and the Decentralist Vision", Office of Policy Evaluation, U.S. Department of Energy, 1979. 40Technology Review, October 1979, pp. 56-66.
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