Comments

• 	[no subject] hachi on 08/14/2008 at 4:37 AM
  Posts: 29 Avg Rating:	10c a kilowatt hour? Sign me up, that's under half the retail cost of eletricity down here in New Zealand. Even with USD>NZD conversion, it's only 12.5c to 20c. Rate this comment: (Reply)

  • 	Re: electricity cost hador_nyc on 08/14/2008 at 9:41 AM
    Posts: 4 Avg Rating:	That 10 cents per KWH is only for rural areas of the US.  I live in New York City, and pay 22 cents per KWH for generation.  Delivery charges are about 8 cents per KWH, making the total about 30.  But for apples to apples, 22 is about right.  Most urban areas of the US are closer to that, and some are above.  Rate this comment: (Reply)

    • Bad number in article... Bob61984 on 08/14/2008 at 12:14 PM

      Posts: 1 Avg Rating:

      Ten cents is the wrong number.  Ten cents is the *average* US price per kWh.  (Actually a bit higher than $0.10.) When discussing solar, either PV or thermal, one should use the peak price paid by utilities which can be 2-4 times more than ten cents.  Night time power is very cheap, often falling close to zero as there is more power generated than can be used.  Sometime surplus nighttime power is simply dumped. Solar does not need to fall to ten cents per kWh to be economically feasible.  It just needs to be in the range of what utilities pay for scarce hot afternoon power from other sources.  The author should do a follow up piece and compare the cost of solar to the cost of natural gas peaking plants. Rate this comment: (Reply)

      • 	Re: Bad number in article... Kevin Bullis on 08/14/2008 at 4:32 PM		TR Staff Nanotechnology and Materials Science Editor
        Posts: 59 Avg Rating:	Solar is already competitive with conventional sources of power in some places and during some parts of the day. As Bob61984 points out, that includes peak power sources. The goal eventually is to make solar competitive with base load power all over the country so that it can economically provide a large portion of the energy mix, which is why it makes sense to talk about average electricity prices. Of course, ultimately we'll also need a cheap storage method, so that large amounts of solar power produced during the day can be used at night. Rate this comment: (Reply)

        • Re: Bad number in article... dsc22 on 08/15/2008 at 7:58 PM

          Posts: 2 Avg Rating:

          We also have to take into the equation that the more people who start using this technology, means the less demand on delivered alternative, which a lot of the times translates to lower prices. If enough people go the solar route because the cost rivals today's amount of delivered energy, that may affect tomorrow's pricing and make solar not worth it anymore on a purely cost for cost scale, such as the comment about night time pricing falling to almost nothing, even though we know this is a business... delivered electricity will never be that low. Rate this comment: (Reply)

    • Re: electricity cost msreid on 08/18/2008 at 2:28 PM

      Posts: 6 Avg Rating:

      I live in a major metro area of over 250,000 people and I pay between 7 and 9 cents a KwH depending on my usage amount and the time of year.  It is going to be a LONG time before solar or wind can really compete with that price where I live. Here's a map with recent state averages from last year: http://www.think-energy.net/EIA%20Map_Average%20electricity%20cost%20by%20state_2007.jpg It it cerainly not average for most metro areas to pay 22 cents per KwH, and if you're really paying 30 cents per KwH as a final price, you're getting hosed and should start buying gerbils to run on a wheel and provide power, because that would certainly be cheaper than how you're getting it now. Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	[no subject] exushri on 08/14/2008 at 5:55 PM
  Posts: 2 Avg Rating:	ps: we pay around 14c a KWh in Dallas Texas. I agree that solar power does need not achieve 10c per KWH to reach a point of inflection. The equation would be more like Current cost per KWh - govt subsidy (like in Germany) - carbon footprint offset (likely regulation in US after election) <= spot electricity rate (remember california power debacle in 2002) shri Rate this comment: (Reply)

• 	Price per watt isadikin on 08/16/2008 at 12:07 AM
  Posts: 1	What do you mean by usd 3 per watt? Is that price of the solar cell only or price of the complete system to function (solar cell, baterry, control, etc.)? Rate this comment: (Reply)