Solar costs to match coal by 2010 (EU)

[jpak]

http://www.carbonpositive.net/viewarticle.aspx?articleID=645

The cost of producing solar power will fall to that of coal-fired electricity by the end of the decade, according to a report by Europe's Photon Consulting.

However, falling costs of production won’t lead to substantially cheaper prices for consumers because of current market dynamics which see rising demand outstripping supply.

The report predicts that by 2010 solar power will be produced at a cost of 10-12 cents per kilowatt hour in Spain, about the same as the local cost of producing electricity from coal.

In southern Germany, it will fall to 18 cents/kWh, below the current power grid consumer price of 20 cents/kWh for the first time. In California, costs are expected to fall to 13 cents per kWh.

<more>

:)

[cassiepriam]

1. Leave it to the corporate crooks to figure how to make a profit on sunshine.

And screw consumers.

[AndyTiedye]

2. With Solar, Many Homeowners Can And Will Install Their Own

and if they want to make money helping us do that, bring 'em on.

[cassiepriam]

4. Well if there is many to be made, the repug crooks will find a way to do it.

[Parisle]

3. We're always hearing about comparative costs of PV....

--- But not nearly enough is being said about controlling the amount of energy we require in a basic residence. 200 amp service boxes are the routine minimum today, and I've built a number of houses which had 400 amp service. This is not necessary. If we're going to proceed much further into a future of energy scarcity, then we've got to look at more than just other ways to make electricity -- we've got to look at how we waste it, too,.. and residential building technology is one of the prime areas for drastic improvement. Smaller, smarter and more efficient.

--- I've also built a couple of "half-underground" homes employing south-facing masonry "Trombe walls," along with lightly-powered geo-thermal pumps, super insulation, etc. They were neither damp, nor dark,... and they required little or no additional heat until the outside temperature got below freezing. Likewise, the pumps kept the houses sufficiently cool until the thermometer registered in the 90's. What's more, these houses are not expensive to build, and I'm talking about 2000 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2 baths. Normal enough.

---One of these houses also featured solar-assisted hot water, ultra-efficient fridge and benefitted power-wise from having a shallow well. 120 amp service was all it needed. (Edit: By the way, these houses also had small PV arrays as emergency "back-up" for power outages.)

[LSK]

5. Kick and Recommended

[bananas]

6. k&r nt

[Dead_Parrot]

7. Oh My...

The results come from an international study by Photon Consulting, which took cost information from PV companies, added them together and then formed an average.

http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=12857&channel=0

Well, I'm convinced. Let's face it, Over the last 30 years or so, every time PV companies have predicted the price of PV dropping in a few years, they've been dead right. :eyes:

The report's authors say the study's accuracy has been peer reviewed by executives from several large PV companies.
:spray: