Has Solar Gained Grid Parity?

At a luncheon yesterday hosted by the New America Foundation, Thomas Dinwoodie, founder of SunPower, and Daniel Shugar of Solaria, argued that the cost of solar power had come down enough to make it competitive with nuclear power, new natural gas plants, and even new coal plants.

"It has already happened. Solar is competitive," said Mr. Dinwoodie, of SunPower, the founder of the second largest US solar company.  Solar costs have fallen sharply in the last few years, because of increased production and technological advances. "Solar is ramping down in cost where it is competitive with all these other forms of energy," Dinwoodie said.

He said the cost of solar power, currently 13.9 cents a kilowatt hour, would fall to 7 cents a kilowatt hour by 2020, according to the department of energy.  That would put solar prices in the range, or even cheaper, than conventional energy sources, he said.

The Federal government tax credit subsidies cover up to 30% of the cost of new projects. In California, with its expanded Renewable Portfolio Program is asking for one third of its electricity from renewable power. These help to put solar panels across the rooftops of homes and retain merchants. 

O Monday, June 27 at 12:00 pm, we will host an event reviewing the recent rapid ascent and maturation of solar technology, The Speed of Solar:  How Rapidly Growing Solar Technologies are gaining Grid Parity.  This lunchtime discussion feature Danny Kennedy, founder of Sungevity, the fastest growing solar company in the US, Andrea Luecke, Executive Director of The Solar Foundation, and Rachel Tronstein, Clean Energy Advisor in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy.  Please join us for what will be a terrific event. 

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