"
Solar power may be cheaper than electricity generated by fossil fuels and nuclear reactors within three to five years because of innovations, said Mark M. Little, the global research director for
General Electric Co. (GE)
“If we can get solar at 15 cents a kilowatt-hour or lower, which I’m hopeful that we will do, you’re going to have a lot of people that are going to want to have solar at home,” Little said yesterday in an interview in Bloomberg’s Washington office. The 2009 average U.S. retail rate per kilowatt-hour for electricity ranges from 6.1 cents in
Wyoming to 18.1 cents in
Connecticut, according to Energy Information Administration data released in April."
The full report by By Brian Wingfield - May 26, 2011 6:58 PM ET for Bloomberg
In 2010 BP were a little more cautious -
BP Projects Solar Power to Equal Fossil Fuel Costs by 2020
BP officials have predicted the cost of solar energy will fall 10 percent a year for a decade, bringing the expense of solar energy to the same level as that of fossil fuels.
The comparative costs could meet in as soon as five years, according to Vahid Fotuhi, Middle East director of BP Solar, who explained at a conference in Abu Dhabi that the increasing cost of fossil fuel and the decreasing cost of alternative energy would likely meet in the middle.
The increase in oil prices are expected to continue indefinitely, and rise to an average of $94.50 a barrel in 2012 and $102.13 a barrel in 2013.
The full report by By David Amstell | 11/25/10 - for PE Power and Energy
Interesting comment by Ramez Naam on the possibility of the rapid decline in solar energy prices.
Unbridled Speculation by Ramez Naam
