Nearly everyone thinks that generating electricity via solar power is good for the environment, but there’s much less agreement on whether it makes sense from an economic point of view. At what point will solar power be competitive with electricity generated by conventional, fossil-fuel plants, and how long will subsidies need to remain in place before the solar industry can stand on its own? Those are some of the questions addressed in “The Prospects for Cost-Competitive Solar PV Power,” a new working paper by Professor Stefan Reichelstein of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Michael Yorston, graduate student in the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford. Their paper breaks new ground in studying the life-cycle cost of electricity generated by solar photovoltaic, paying particular attention to key factors such as location, public subsidies, and the long-term learning effects in manufacturing solar panels.
This piece originally appeared in Stanford Business Insights from Stanford Graduate School of Business. To receive business ideas and insights from Stanford GSB click here: (To sign up : https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/about/emails ) ]
Good article. The future of Solar depends on how quickly the solar cell efficiency improves. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
on Jul 16, 2013Good article. The future of Solar depends on how quickly the solar cell efficiency improves. Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
on Jul 15, 2013\"In our cost projections, we have assumed a modern combined-cycle gas power plant with the price of natural gas given by the historical average observed in the United States over the past 10 years.\" This seems to mean they didn\'t take into consideration the existence of and cost of subsidies that the gas industry has from both federal and state governments. How would they change the equation and bring solar closer to grid parity? You can\'t take into consideration renewable subsidies but ignore the ones fossil fuel producers get and have been getting for many more decades. I\'d be interested to hear how that affects the analysis.
on Feb 1, 2013We think the same. In fact, we designed last year FAMA, an intelligent solar streetlight and we are very proud of it. Thanks to the solar panels that feed our FaMA streetlight, ditches and wiring installation are not required, in addition it does not consume electricity. In each element, which contains (photovoltaic modules, control, battery) it is considered modular elements that can be replaced without penalizing the other components. Its shaft is made of extruded aluminium with high mechanical resistence. It has been designed in an octagon shape, forming a series of cells, which promotes cooling of the battery for optimal operation. At its coronation and based on a moveable stucture to needs of the clients, you will find two photovoltaic modules which are responsible for capturing a power of 120Wp with surface area of 0.92 m2. The photovoltaic modules act as a luminosity sensor, and control the switching on and off.
on Dec 21, 2012