Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumBig solar is leaving rooftop systems in the dust
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-solar-costs-idUSKCN0ZL0DA[font size=5]Big solar is leaving rooftop systems in the dust[/font]
By Nichola Groom
[font size=3]Solar power is on pace for the first time this year to contribute more new electricity to the grid than will any other form of energy a feat driven more by economics than green mandates.
The cost of electricity from large-scale solar installations now is comparable to and sometimes cheaper than natural gas-fired power, even without incentives aimed at promoting environmentally friendly power, according to industry players and outside cost studies.
Buoyed by appeals to self reliance and environmental stewardship, as well as government subsidies, the early solar industry was dominated by rooftop panels that powered individual homes and businesses. But such small-scale installations are expensive, requiring hefty incentives to make them attractive to homeowners.
Today, large systems that sell directly to utilities dominate. They are expected to account for more than 70 percent of new solar added to the grid this year, according to industry research firm GTM Research.
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NNadir
(33,457 posts)How come the entire solar industry on the entire planet can't even match a fragment of a mote or a residual of the annual increase in gas use for power?
The world uses 570 exajoules of energy per year. "Big solar" produces how much of that?
The figures for utility scale solar in the United States is available from the EIA. Anyone ever look at it?
The main thing that the solar industry generates is complacency and wishful thinking. It's proved useless, for more than half a century at even slowing climate change.
LouisvilleDem
(303 posts)Generation at Utility Scale Facilities (2015):
1,356,057 - Coal
1,335,068 - Natural Gas
   797,178 - Nuclear
     26,473 - Solar
Total 4,087,381 (includes others like Petroleum, Hydro, etc.)
NNadir
(33,457 posts)This "pace" is why all this crap about the solar miracle has been an enormous waste in any effort to address climate change.
LouisvilleDem
(303 posts)It shows pretty much the same thing as my numbers do, only in a pretty graphical format...
Nihil
(13,508 posts)Fossil fuels = 78.3%
Nuclear = 2.5%
Wind PLUS solar PLUS biomass(!) PLUS geothermal = 1.4%
We've got a LONG way to go ...
kristopher
(29,798 posts)The pool of those who benefit in some manner from the economics of solar is steadily expanding and will soon include virtually everyone globally. The next big market should be commercial rooftop and, if the policies get set properly, community solar (and wind).