Adelaide Advertiser
Thursday 19/6/2008 Page: 61
SOLAR energy will cost the same as power from coal, natural gas and nuclear plants in about a decade, a report released yesterday suggests. By then, the price parity could propel solar adoption so that it accounts for 10 per cent of U.S. electricity generation by 2025. "Solar prices are falling as the solar industry scales," said Alisa Gravitz, executive director of Co-op America, a non-profit organisation advocating green economic solutions.
"For the first time in history, cost-competitive solar power is now within the planning horizon of every utility." The Utility Solar Assessment Study, produced by Co-op America and the Clean Edge research firm, projects that the cost of solar will fall from an average of $US5.50-$US7 for a peak watt today to $US1.43- $US1.62 per average peak watt by 2025. A peak watt is the number of watts output when a solar panel is illuminated under test conditions.
At the same time, fuel costs and capital costs to build traditional power plants will rise. Ron Pernick, Clean Edge's managing director and a coauthor of the study, said progress will come only with concentrated efforts by solar companies, utilities and regulators. And with lots of money - from $US450 billion-$US560 billion between now and 2025. he said. At the moment, the U.S. generates less than 0.1 per cent of its electricity from solar power. If the study's projections come true, by 2025 about 8 per cent of electricity will come from photovoltaic systems on roofs and in small solar fields.
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