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Dramatic fall in price of solar electricity

sunFlag-USASolar Energy Sees Eye-Popping Price Drops Solar electricity’s price tag has plummeted 70 percent, says a new report, as SolarCity rolls out a low-cost, super-efficient panel. By Christina Nunez, National Geographic  OCT 02  2015 “…….The figure, cited in a report this week from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, coincides with SolarCity’s debut Friday of what it calls the world’s most efficient rooftop solar panel. The largest residential solar installer in the U.S. says its module can produce 38 percent more power than a standard one, yet costs less to produce.

Not bad for an industry that had no large-scale U.S. presence just a decade ago. Photovoltaic panels currently contribute only about 1 percent of all electricity, but lower costs are helping fuel the expansion of large, utility-size projects.

As historic UN climate talks near, solar’s latest strides are key in the worldwide race to slash carbon emissions by paring back dependence on fossil fuels. (See surprising countries where wind and solar are booming.)……….

The falling price of power from large-scale solar projects reflects the lower cost of building them. The report notes that cost fell by more than 50 percent between 2009 and 2014. At the same time, solar farms have seen a “notable improvement” in how much power they put out, thanks to smarter siting and better technology.

SolarCity is aiming to apply its own gains in efficiency and cost to the residential market when it begins production at its 1-gigawatt facility in Buffalo, New York, in early 2017. Its new rooftop panel, which earned a rating of 22.04 percent efficiency in a third-party certification test, surpasses an earlier record set by SunPower, which has a high-efficiency model rated at 21.5 percent.

Another trend Bolinger called “encouraging”: Solar’s reach is expanding. Most development has been centered in the Southwest, but Bolinger says big solar power contracts are cropping up in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia—states that “haven’t seen much solar development in the past to speak of.” http://news.nationalgeographic.com/energy/2015/10/151002-solar-energy-sees-eye-popping-price-drops/

October 16, 2015 - Posted by | renewable, USA

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