SOLAR’S BOOM

Here Comes the Sun: America's Solar Boom, in Charts; It's been a bit player, but solar power is about to shine.

Tim McDonnell, Novemeber 7, 2014 (Mother Jones)

“…By 2016, solar power will be as cheap or cheaper than electricity from the conventional grid in every state except three [according to an energy analyst at Deutsche Bank]. That's without any changes to existing policy…[Within a few years,] in most of the United States, there will be no economic reason not to go solar…In the past decade, the amount of solar power produced in the United States has leaped 139,000 percent. A number of factors are behind the boom: Cheaper panels and a raft of local and state incentives, plus a federal tax credit that shaves 30 percent off the cost of upgrading…Still, solar is a bit player, providing less than half of 1 percent of the energy produced in the United States. But its potential is massive—it could power the entire country 100 times over…[Obstacles include] pushback from old-energy diehards, competition with other efficient energy sources, and the challenges of power storage and transmission. But with solar in the Southwest already at "grid parity"—meaning it costs the same or less as electricity from conventional sources—Wall Street is starting to see solar as a sound bet…” click here for more

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