Analyst: Solar approaching grid parity in U.S.

[FarCenter]

Dylan McGrath EE Times (07/13/2009 3:22 PM EDT)
http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218500156&cid=NL_eet

SAN FRANCISCO—By 2015, two-thirds of the U.S. will have achieved grid parity, the point at which electricity generated from photovoltaics is equal in cost or less expensive than grid power, an analyst said Monday (July 13). At that point, solar power will be no more than 5 cents per kilowatt hour more expensive than grid power for 99 percent of the country, according to Travis Bradford, founder and president of the non-profit research group The Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development.
Speaking to a packed ballroom at the Intersolar North America event here, Bradford said the combination of falling photovoltaic system costs and larger government subsidies juxtaposed against the rising cost of grid electricity means that the U.S. is "rapidly approaching grid parity."

But Bradford added that there is skepticism that grid parity is within reach, especially among those who last looked at photovoltaic system costs back in 2007, when they were significantly higher. "I'm not sure that a lot of people believe it," Bradford said.

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[panader0]

1. I hope we have health care by then too.