one of the common claims of denialists is that renewables are too expensive, but here in Australia this is nop longer the case. sure - photovoltaics aren't sufficient to power heavy industry - yet - or maybe ever without other sources of energy being part of the mix - but its not that long ago the idea of "grid parity" was remote. it just shows that where there is a will there is a way. as someone who enjoys free energy, without it curtailing my lifestyle, I laugh at denialists for being so backward looking. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2011/s3312340.htm
Science and technology continues to advance destroying the "God of the gaps" and "warmists want pre-industrial surfdom (sic)" strategy of the the deniers and naysayers.
PV is more suited to power heavy industry, during the day time, than power the smallest house, at night. PV is a piece of the puzzle, not a solutiion.
I am a kitchen sink kinda guy . I want us to use all energy sources availible , solar , wind , hydro and nuclear to name a few all will help us with our energy needs
No, not necassarily. Cheap storage technology is what is lagging, however is already developed and about 5 years from being mass marketed. It will be quite possible to run a large household 24 hrs completely on a stand alone solar system within a few years. And cheaper.
I look forward to the day that solar in the U.S. is as economical as coal powered electricity. We aren't there yet.
Great news if that's true, but I'll take this message with a grain of salt. The source of this claim is a representative of the Photovoltaic Association. No specifics are given in the article, but he appears to be including infrastructure costs of coal (e.g. poles and power lines) when comparing to solar. For the most part, that infrastructure already exists and is a sunk cost. Also, if you leave that out for the solar costs you're basically assuming that solar users are not returning any excess power to the grid using the same infrastructure. Call me skeptical, but I'd like to see the calculations he used to arrive at his conclusion. It appears to be a very biased source touting the industry he's representing.
I totally agree. I don't really care where my electricity comes from but I'm not pulling the plug till there is a reasonable alternative available. Question: Did this "parity" business include the price of the bank of batteries for storage or just for the electricity out of the solar cell?
This is excellent news. Price of photovoltaics has been dropping dramatically, in part due to initial government support inducing competition in a race to become leaders in green technology. While this has caused a lot of churn among some competitors within the broader solar industry (note the U.S. drooling over Solyndra's demise), it's ultimately a good thing for both long-term industry expansion and consumers.
