SOLAR PARITY COMING SOON

Solar Could Fall 8% Per Year, Be Competitive in Italy by 2010; A report by the European solar industry association says deploying smart grid technologies and energy storage devices would boost solar energy generation from less than 1 percent of the power supply today to 12 percent by 2020
Ucilla Wang, June 19, 2009 (Greentech Media)

"Solar electricity could compete, cost wise, with other sources of electricity in parts of Southern Europe, by as early as next year, according to an industry report…[C]onducted by the European Photovoltaics Industry Association, [the report] aims to lay out reasons for European Union lawmakers to support more solar friendly policies to achieve their [20%] greenhouse gas reduction and [20%] energy conservation goals [by 2020]….

"If the right steps are taken by policymakers and the industry, then the European Union could get 12 percent of its electricity from solar by 2010, compared with less than 1 percent today. To achieve the 12 percent would require a wide deployment of energy storage and smart grid technologies, the report said…"

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"The cost to produce solar electricity should fall about 8 percent each year, the report said. But at 20 euro cents to 40 euro cents per kilowatt hour, it remains more expensive than fossil fuel-generated power.

"The photovoltaic industry wants to reduce the cost to below 10 euro cents per kilowatt hour for larger systems and below 15 euro cents per kilowatt hour for residential systems. Italy, for example, could see solar electricity cost about the same as other types of power next year thanks to its [solar subsidies,] abundant sunshine and high electricity prices. But…its bureaucracy has made it difficult to get permits to build…"

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"Many European countries, including Germany, Spain, France and Greece, also have deployed their own solar subsidy programs. Those programs tend to require utilities to buy all the solar power available for sale and buy it at government-set prices that are higher than what they would pay for conventional power.

"Under those feed-in tariff policies, home and business owners could potentially make a good profit from owning solar energy systems and selling the electricity to their utilities. The policies also have attracted project developers who build larger-scale projects and sell them to investors…"