The Solar Holy Grail: Grid Parity

Latest developments on Solar Panel efficiency, and the ever shrinking costs of silicon and thin film solar panels will bring someday what is known as Grid Parity, a price barrier where Solar becomes as cheap as conventional fossil fuel sources of energy(mainly the coal and gas power plants)

Moore’s law does apply to solar panel technology and grid parity might be coming sooner than later.

Some recent articles commenting on these matters:

The Shining: Solar Power, Grid Parity, and the Cost of Power

Clean energy has a holy grail—the day when the electricity produced by solar panels and the like can compete dollar-for-dollar with electricity churned out by traditional power plants.

That day is getting closer all the time. But as Lux Research notes today in a new report, so-called “grid parity” isn’t a done deal yet, and still depends on such fickle factors as the amount of sunlight hitting rooftops and political will to underwrite hefty subsidies for solar power.

The Lux report, “The Slow Dawn of Grid Parity,” stresses a few main points. Solar power is now measured by the cost of the electricity it produces, rather the cost of installing the stuff in the first place.

That makes a big difference for consumers, utilities, and investors, Lux says, since it makes it a lot easier to compare apples with apples. That’s because solar power (like wind) costs a lot upfront, but has free fuel—so it looks more attractive when measured by the electricity it actually produces.

WSJ Blogs

Threat to Solar Market: Government Budget Woes

Grid parity represents something of a Holy Grail for solar companies — a point where they can compete on cost with conventional fossil fuel sources of energy. The race for grid parity shifted into overdrive earlier this year as a heap of new funding and the extension of tax credits were approved as part of the stimulus package. According to a new report released today from Lux Research, certain types of solar installations are now on the verge of grid parity — especially in California — but accelerating progress toward that Holy Grail has in some ways never been more at risk.

Reuters

Labels: Solar Energy, Solar Market, Solar News, solar panels, Solar power, Solar Stocks

posted by Ertai at 8:41 AM