Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The cost of solar PV panels has come down a great deal
in the past few years. However, the cost of the necessary
electronics and installation has not come down, and until
they do, solar will remain relatively expensive. Solar ther-
mal gets more Sun time than PV because of its tracking
system as shown in
Figure
, and it does have the
potential to store heat and so generate electricity when
the Sun is not shining.
Solar costs will come down, but we will have to see how
far down. Today, federal subsidies in California cut roof-
top solar costs by about a third. Without those subsidies
I doubt that we would see so much being deployed. It is
too early to say how solar will come out. We know about
solar thermal electric, but the laboratory may still produce
revolutionary solar photovoltaic systems, without which
PV may remain only an indulgence for richer countries.
There is one exception: if there is a need for power far
from any link to the grid, PV is a good option.
Wind turbines have a lower capital cost than solar per
kilowatt of capacity, and the wind in the United States
typically blows about
.
% of the time. Adding in tax
credits makes wind very attractive as long as there is a
backup for when the wind doesn
t blow. Today, wind with
a carbon tax on fossil-fuel-generated electricity would
reach cost parity compared with coal except for the
hidden cost of making up for its variability.
Changes in the ways we power our economy are not
going to happen without carrots and sticks from govern-
ment. For years we have been subsidizing various forms of
energy at different rates. Recently, Management Infor-
mation Services, Inc., in a study funded by the Nuclear
Energy Institute, has analyzed where the US subsidies
'