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Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumHere comes the sun: Solar cost competitve with fossil fuels in a decade?
http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2012/04/here-comes-the-sun-solar-cost-competitve-with-fossil-fuels-in-a-decade/<snip>
And, ultimately, its the answer. Eventually the capacity of solar cells will increase, the cost to manufacture them will go down, and battery storage will improve such that sunlight collected on a sunny day can be used during a cloudy week.
But when?
Perhaps sooner than one might think. According to the giant consulting firm McKinsey & Company, solar capacity globally will soar as costs fall by an average of 10 percent a year through 2020. It should become cost competitive with fossil fuels in a decade, the report says.
The pace of cost reductions has been staggering. When companies are building new energy infrastructure, solar will be a competitive option within this decade, report author Krister Aanesen said in a news release. It will be cost comparable to peaking plant within two to three years in some countries and comparable with base load plants by the end of the decade.
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Here comes the sun: Solar cost competitve with fossil fuels in a decade? (Original Post)
jpak
Apr 2012
OP
pscot
(21,023 posts)1. It isn't just that the cost of a solar panel has come dow
The cost of system components have dropped while the variety of options has ballooned. Just browse Amazon. You'll be amazed.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006R7K8MA?psc=1
ashling
(25,771 posts)2. Think where the technology might be if
Ronny "Mourning in America" Raygun had not killed Jimmy Carter's efforts to attract attention and research into solar.
newrocker
(10 posts)3. I think it's further off than a decade: costs are too high.
Except in deserts and areas near the equator where solar's weaknesses can be overcome: nighttime, clouds and winter (shorter days.)
Eventually a lot of the world will be solar-powered, IMO.