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How solar power will become cheaper than fossil fuels in three to five years

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Filed: Country: Philippines
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Are you ready to flip the bird at your utility company? Lord knows you probably will be after you get the bill for what's shaping up to be an especially hot June. Luckily, a whole host of companies working on improving a novel solar technology would like to help you do it.

The new tech is called thin-film solar, and the global research director of GE thinks it will soon be cheap enough to compete with the retail price of electricity from the grid. This is called "grid parity" and it's the Holy Grail of rooftop solar. When this magic pony arrives (so legend has it), it will revolutionize how we produce and consume electricity. Mostly by enabling those of us who live in sufficiently sunny climates to DIY our utilities.

Anyway, GE suit Mark Little thinks that thin-film solar, which can be printed like magazines rather than constructed from expensive silicon like traditional solar panels, only has to get a little more efficient -- 10 or 20 percent more -- to help break through the 15 cent per kilowatt hour price barrier for a residential installation. (Typical retail electricity prices are between 8 and 20 cents per kwh, and the national average is about 11 cents.)

straight to the source

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That's okay, Steven. We're hurting to remain dependent. Foreign oil today, solar technology tomorrow. Just as long as we do not invest a penny into the future, we're as American as they come. Let us shift our dependency from the Middle East to Europe and SE Asia. We love being dependent. It's what this country is all about.

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Filed: Country: Philippines
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That's okay, Steven. We're hurting to remain dependent. Foreign oil today, solar technology tomorrow. Just as long as we do not invest a penny into the future, we're as American as they come. Let us shift our dependency from the Middle East to Europe and SE Asia. We love being dependent. It's what this country is all about.

The shift is happening now and no amount of nay-saying or do-nothing's can stop it. Thank God for innovation and the American spirit.

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Filed: K-1 Visa Country: Russia
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3-5 years is absolute fantasy.... FANTASY.

YOur posts suggests electtric will be produced as cheap as it is currently available at a cheaper cost.

Talk to me about volume, how much can be made, if it is only provides 5 or 10% of your electric needs... whoopty doo.

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"Those people who will not be governed by God


will be ruled by tyrants."



William Penn

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Spain
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Are you ready to flip the bird at your utility company? Lord knows you probably will be after you get the bill for what's shaping up to be an especially hot June. Luckily, a whole host of companies working on improving a novel solar technology would like to help you do it.

The new tech is called thin-film solar, and the global research director of GE thinks it will soon be cheap enough to compete with the retail price of electricity from the grid. This is called "grid parity" and it's the Holy Grail of rooftop solar. When this magic pony arrives (so legend has it), it will revolutionize how we produce and consume electricity. Mostly by enabling those of us who live in sufficiently sunny climates to DIY our utilities.

Anyway, GE suit Mark Little thinks that thin-film solar, which can be printed like magazines rather than constructed from expensive silicon like traditional solar panels, only has to get a little more efficient -- 10 or 20 percent more -- to help break through the 15 cent per kilowatt hour price barrier for a residential installation. (Typical retail electricity prices are between 8 and 20 cents per kwh, and the national average is about 11 cents.)

straight to the source

Its no secret in IL that the gas and electric companies are trying left and right to raise rates on the existing grids.

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Filed: Other Country: Afghanistan
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3-5 years is absolute fantasy.... FANTASY.

YOur posts suggests electtric will be produced as cheap as it is currently available at a cheaper cost.

Talk to me about volume, how much can be made, if it is only provides 5 or 10% of your electric needs... whoopty doo.

I don't think the US will ever fully redevelop the grid, so yes I think cheaper more energy efficient solar units will have to be a married with energy storage systems to work. Both technologies are progressing though.

However in sunny climates, most buildings are at a point where they can run a majority of their power needs via solar so this will take off in places like AZ and CA in the next 3-5 years.

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: India
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The most expensive component in Solar setup is the battery.

The battries the major issue in the Solar set-up, I have been looking around for while to kinda have an in-expensive setup just couple light etc (playing around as home improvement project)but when I every expense it looks like it will be years before I would be able to recover the cost.

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Filed: Other Country: Afghanistan
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The most expensive component in Solar setup is the battery.

The battries the major issue in the Solar set-up, I have been looking around for while to kinda have an in-expensive setup just couple light etc (playing around as home improvement project)but when I every expense it looks like it will be years before I would be able to recover the cost.

Hopefully mechanical storage devices will replace the battery in the near future.

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Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Colombia
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The term is amorphous semiconductor technology, yeah, like printing newspapers. Been working on this for the last fifty years, every couple of years or so, some kid comes along and says, we are going to see major breakthrough in 2-3 years.

Just saying, don't hold your breathe.

Just like battery technology, hundreds of thousands of different chemical makeups have been tried, same old story, the greater the energy level, the highly more active are the elements, the shorter the life and the far more dangerous is the battery. Then the lack of rare earth materials on this planet. Electric powered vehicles have come and gone over the last 120 years. Chevy Volt was suppose to be a break through but the selling price has more than doubled than the predicted cost, due to the battery. A replacement battery is $8000!

One secret to reduce cost are government subsidies, but either getting screwed at the pumps or with taxes.

Nuclear fusion is really the known answer, but very little being done to develop it. Still have an oil controlled congress, and we are paying a lot more for gas at the pumps because of the wars we get involved with to get it. Hear the Obama is involved with a very strong cover up with this latest BP spill. One key reason, BP is a major supplier to the Pentagon.

Oh, and large corporations and our military consume a lot more fossil fuels than we do. But we are the targets of the EPA for strict emission requirements, the really big users are untouchable! Government for the people?

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