Re: [EC] from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Here is a pretty important development. According to the article:
"Utility-scale systems installed in 2011 registered even lower prices, with most systems larger than 10,000 kW ranging from $2.80/W to $3.50/W." By way of comparison, the 695 MW Longview plant (which also began operation in 2011) cost just over $2 billion to construct, for an installed cost of $2.88/W. This does not include the cost of fuel or operation and maintenance costs, which are considerably higher for coal than for solar.
Those radicals at Science Daily, what outlandish things will they say next!
JBK
From: Paul Wilson ( mailto:pjgrunt@gmail.com ) Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:47 AM To: Coal Alerts ( mailto:coal-volunteers-list@sierraclub.org ) ; WV Chapter Energy Committee ( mailto:EC@osenergy.org ) Cc: John Christensen ( mailto:jbc329@earthlink.net ) ; Hogue, Robert ( mailto:Robert.Hogue@va.gov ) Subject: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Most of you probably know this, but...
Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace ( http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/AbBJ... ) Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:02 AM PSTThe installed price of solar photovoltaic power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to new research.
Do I hear grid parity?
John Christensen Mountain View Solar 410-499-4873 cell www.mtvsolar.com
From: James Kotcon Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:01 PM To: John Christensen ; Paul Wilson ; ec@osenergy.org Cc: Good Natured ; Vivian Stockman ; James Kotcon Subject: Re: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Here is a pretty important development. According to the article:
"Utility-scale systems installed in 2011 registered even lower prices, with most systems larger than 10,000 kW ranging from $2.80/W to $3.50/W."
By way of comparison, the 695 MW Longview plant (which also began operation in 2011) cost just over $2 billion to construct, for an installed cost of $2.88/W. This does not include the cost of fuel or operation and maintenance costs, which are considerably higher for coal than for solar.
Those radicals at Science Daily, what outlandish things will they say next!
JBK
From: Paul Wilson Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:47 AM To: Coal Alerts ; WV Chapter Energy Committee Cc: John Christensen ; Hogue, Robert Subject: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Most of you probably know this, but...
Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:02 AM PST
The installed price of solar photovoltaic power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to new research.
-- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361
"There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle
In comparing solar to other forms of energy generation, one needs to look at average power rather than maximum or installed capacity. At our latitude the efficiency is only about 1/6, so the average cost per average kilowatt is about 6 times that. Will Reilly
________________________________ From: John Christensen jbc329@earthlink.net To: James Kotcon jkotcon@wvu.edu; Paul Wilson pjgrunt@gmail.com; ec@osenergy.org Cc: Vivian Stockman vivian@ohvec.org; Good Natured pam@goodnaturedllc.com Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:36 PM Subject: Re: [EC] from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Do I hear grid parity?
John Christensen Mountain View Solar 410-499-4873 cell http://www.mtvsolar.com/
From: James Kotcon Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:01 PM To: John Christensen ; Paul Wilson ; ec@osenergy.org Cc: Good Natured ; Vivian Stockman ; James Kotcon Subject: Re: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace Here is a pretty important development. According to the article:
"Utility-scale systems installed in 2011 registered even lower prices, with most systems larger than 10,000 kW ranging from $2.80/W to $3.50/W."
By way of comparison, the 695 MW Longview plant (which also began operation in 2011) cost just over $2 billion to construct, for an installed cost of $2.88/W. This does not include the cost of fuel or operation and maintenance costs, which are considerably higher for coal than for solar.
Those radicals at Science Daily, what outlandish things will they say next!
JBK
From: Paul Wilson Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:47 AM To: Coal Alerts ; WV Chapter Energy Committee Cc: John Christensen ; Hogue, Robert Subject: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid
pace
Most of you probably know this, but...
Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:02 AM PST The installed price of solar photovoltaic power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to new research. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson
Ave
Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361
"There is no forward until you
have gone back" ~Buddha
"In all things of nature there is something of
the marvelous" ~ Aristotle
One may need to re-examine the figures or actually look at apples to apples.
Kevin Fooce fooce@hotmail.com 304-751-1448 work 304-675-6687 home 304-593-2875 cell
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 14:15:29 -0800 From: wjreilly99@yahoo.com To: jbc329@earthlink.net; jkotcon@wvu.edu; pjgrunt@gmail.com; ec@osenergy.org CC: pam@goodnaturedllc.com; vivian@ohvec.org Subject: Re: [EC] from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
In comparing solar to other forms of energy generation, one needs to look at average power rather than maximum or installed capacity. At our latitude the efficiency is only about 1/6, so the average cost per average kilowatt is about 6 times that.Will Reilly From: John Christensen jbc329@earthlink.net To: James Kotcon jkotcon@wvu.edu; Paul Wilson pjgrunt@gmail.com; ec@osenergy.org Cc: Vivian Stockman vivian@ohvec.org; Good Natured pam@goodnaturedllc.com Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:36 PM Subject: Re: [EC] from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Do I hear grid parity?
John Christensen Mountain View Solar 410-499-4873 cell http://www.mtvsolar.com/
From: James Kotcon Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:01 PM To: John Christensen ; Paul Wilson ; ec@osenergy.org Cc: Good Natured ; Vivian Stockman ; James Kotcon Subject: Re: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Here is a pretty important development. According to the article:
"Utility-scale systems installed in 2011 registered even lower prices, with most systems larger than 10,000 kW ranging from $2.80/W to $3.50/W."
By way of comparison, the 695 MW Longview plant (which also began operation in 2011) cost just over $2 billion to construct, for an installed cost of $2.88/W. This does not include the cost of fuel or operation and maintenance costs, which are considerably higher for coal than for solar.
Those radicals at Science Daily, what outlandish things will they say next!
JBK
From: Paul Wilson Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:47 AM To: Coal Alerts ; WV Chapter Energy Committee Cc: John Christensen ; Hogue, Robert Subject: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Most of you probably know this, but...
Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:02 AM PST The installed price of solar photovoltaic power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to new research. -- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361
"There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle
-- Paul Wilson Sierra Club 504 Jefferson Ave Charles Town, WV 25414-1130 Phone: 304-725-4360 Cell: 304-279-1361
"There is no forward until you have gone back" ~Buddha
"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" ~ Aristotle
_______________________________________________ EC mailing list EC@osenergy.org http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec
_______________________________________________ EC mailing list EC@osenergy.org http://osenergy.org/mailman/listinfo/ec
I agree with Will that the installed cost per Watt is not the same as the cost of the electricity (although 1/6 seems a little low, perhaps Jim S can tell us about his performance). But keep in mind that a coal-fired plant has substantial operating costs (fuel, maintenance, pollution control costs, etc.) while the solar panels, once installed, have very low operating costs (few moving parts, no enormously high pressures, no fuel costs, no air pollution control systems, etc.).
The proper metric is the "Levelized Cost of Electricity", which integrates all costs, including investment costs, into the price of electricity delivered. The LCoE is dropping fast for solar, while it tends to keep inching upward for coal. Some reports suggest that the "crossover" will occur before year 2020, perhaps as soon as 4-5 years. Whenever that happens, the day that solar is cheaper than coal for electricity is the day when customers start abandoning the coal-fired utilities in droves and opt for their own solar panels. That means First Energy and AEP will need to depend on fewer and fewer customers to cover higher and higher costs for their plants. Coal will not go away over night, but we saw earlier this year how quickly the generators switch from coal to gas just as soon as the cost per BTU of fuel shifts.
I expect gas prices to come back up, and coal-fired generation is already recovering slightly as those gas prices rise again this fall. But when the shift to solar happens, the customers are not going to come back. West Virginia needs to prepare for a permanent shift, and I predict it will happen sooner than most of our political leaders imagine.
JBK
kevin fooce fmoose39@hotmail.com 11/30/2012 5:56 PM >>>
One may need to re-examine the figures or actually look at apples to apples.
Kevin Fooce fooce@hotmail.com 304-751-1448 work 304-675-6687 home 304-593-2875 cell
Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2012 14:15:29 -0800 From: wjreilly99@yahoo.com To: jbc329@earthlink.net; jkotcon@wvu.edu; pjgrunt@gmail.com; ec@osenergy.org CC: pam@goodnaturedllc.com; vivian@ohvec.org Subject: Re: [EC] from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
In comparing solar to other forms of energy generation, one needs to look at average power rather than maximum or installed capacity. At our latitude the efficiency is only about 1/6, so the average cost per average kilowatt is about 6 times that. Will Reilly
From: John Christensen jbc329@earthlink.net To: James Kotcon jkotcon@wvu.edu; Paul Wilson pjgrunt@gmail.com; ec@osenergy.org Cc: Vivian Stockman vivian@ohvec.org; Good Natured pam@goodnaturedllc.com Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:36 PM Subject: Re: [EC] from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Do I hear grid parity?
John Christensen Mountain View Solar 410-499-4873 cell http://www.mtvsolar.com/
From: James Kotcon ( mailto:jkotcon@wvu.edu ) Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 9:01 PM To: John Christensen ( mailto:jbc329@earthlink.net ) ; Paul Wilson ( mailto:pjgrunt@gmail.com ) ; ec@osenergy.org Cc: Good Natured ( mailto:pam@goodnaturedllc.com ) ; Vivian Stockman ( mailto:vivian@ohvec.org ) ; James Kotcon ( mailto:jkotcon@wvu.edu ) Subject: Re: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Here is a pretty important development. According to the article:
"Utility-scale systems installed in 2011 registered even lower prices, with most systems larger than 10,000 kW ranging from $2.80/W to $3.50/W." By way of comparison, the 695 MW Longview plant (which also began operation in 2011) cost just over $2 billion to construct, for an installed cost of $2.88/W. This does not include the cost of fuel or operation and maintenance costs, which are considerably higher for coal than for solar.
Those radicals at Science Daily, what outlandish things will they say next!
JBK
From: Paul Wilson ( mailto:pjgrunt@gmail.com ) Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 10:47 AM To: Coal Alerts ( mailto:coal-volunteers-list@sierraclub.org ) ; WV Chapter Energy Committee ( mailto:EC@osenergy.org ) Cc: John Christensen ( mailto:jbc329@earthlink.net ) ; Hogue, Robert ( mailto:Robert.Hogue@va.gov ) Subject: from ScienceDaily n-newsletter: Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace
Most of you probably know this, but...
Installed price of solar photovoltaic systems in US continues to decline at rapid pace ( http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/AbBJ... ) Posted: 27 Nov 2012 10:02 AM PST The installed price of solar photovoltaic power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to new research.
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James Kotcon -
John Christensen -
kevin fooce -
Will Reilly