Solar panel installations may surge in the next two years as the cost of generating electricity from the sun rivals coal-fueled plants, industry executives and analysts said.
Large photovoltaic projects will cost $1.45 a watt to build by 2020, half the current price, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimated today. The London-based research company says solar is viable against fossil fuels on the electric grid in the most sunny regions such as the Middle East.
"We are already in this phase change and are very close to grid parity,"
...making panels cheaper, fueled by better cell technology and more streamlined manufacturing processes. That's making solar economical in more places and will put it in competition with coal, without subsidies, in the coming years, New Energy Finance said.
"The most powerful driver in our industry is the relentless reduction of cost," Michael Liebreich, chief executive officer of New Energy Finance, said at the company's annual conference in New York yesterday. "In a decade the cost of solar projects is going to halve again."
Installation of solar PV systems will almost double to 32.6 gigawatts by 2013 from 18.6 gigawatts last year, New Energy Finance estimates. Manufacturing capacity worldwide has almost quadrupled since 2008 to 27.5 gigawatts, and 12 gigawatts of production will be added this year. Canadian Solar has about 1.3 gigawatts of capacity and expects to reach 2 gigawatts next year, Qu said.
"Solar isn't expensive," he said "In many areas of the solar industry you're competing with retail power, not wholesale power."
Rooftop solar installations also will become cheaper, the executives said.
Read full at Bloomberg