Solar power is a 10X more costly than the lowest cost power source of power these days, Hydroelectric generation.
Solar cells remain quite inefficient at collecting sunlight and converting it into electricity. Solar cells are quite expensive to produce and involve many hazardous materials and processes. More troubling, solar requires that one have a bank of batteries to store energy when the sun is not shining. More cost and inefficiencies ensue and more hazardous materials too.
The closest solar technology is actually solar-thermal where large mirrors collect sunlight and focus it onto a heat exchanger which produces steam and drives a turbine. In climates such as the US Southwest, this is a technology that makes sense.
Solar hot water heating already makes sense in many locations. It seems like every new house in Honolulu has it.
As for solar electric (photovoltaic panels), the technology is expensive for utility-scale generation, but financially viable for individual homes in increasing areas of the country. That’s because a utility can have a nuclear or coal-fired boiler, and produce electricty at (say) 2 cents a kWh. For a consumer, though, the utility may charge 20 cents a kWh, on par with what solar electric costs, so the consumer can break even by putting panels on the roof. Unless a consumer is lucky enough to have running water for hydropower, or solid wind, there isn’t a cheaper way to make electricity than solar.
The price of solar panels should be coming down as more manufacturers come on line. I think we will see an evolution rather than a revolution in the next few years, just as the price of PC’s was initially high, then slowly came down.
3 Comments
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Easy.
What?
Put the solar panels into space where they collect sunlight 24/7.
Find a way to transmit the power to earth.
When?
HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA
If it wasn’t for NASA we’d already be on Mars.
So it could be a while yet.
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Solar power is a 10X more costly than the lowest cost power source of power these days, Hydroelectric generation.
Solar cells remain quite inefficient at collecting sunlight and converting it into electricity. Solar cells are quite expensive to produce and involve many hazardous materials and processes. More troubling, solar requires that one have a bank of batteries to store energy when the sun is not shining. More cost and inefficiencies ensue and more hazardous materials too.
The closest solar technology is actually solar-thermal where large mirrors collect sunlight and focus it onto a heat exchanger which produces steam and drives a turbine. In climates such as the US Southwest, this is a technology that makes sense.
Astrobuf
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:36 pm
Solar hot water heating already makes sense in many locations. It seems like every new house in Honolulu has it.
As for solar electric (photovoltaic panels), the technology is expensive for utility-scale generation, but financially viable for individual homes in increasing areas of the country. That’s because a utility can have a nuclear or coal-fired boiler, and produce electricty at (say) 2 cents a kWh. For a consumer, though, the utility may charge 20 cents a kWh, on par with what solar electric costs, so the consumer can break even by putting panels on the roof. Unless a consumer is lucky enough to have running water for hydropower, or solid wind, there isn’t a cheaper way to make electricity than solar.
The price of solar panels should be coming down as more manufacturers come on line. I think we will see an evolution rather than a revolution in the next few years, just as the price of PC’s was initially high, then slowly came down.