The Falling Cost Of Solar Energy Is Surprising Everyone

[jpak]

http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-the-solar-age-is-dawning-2013-5

Everyone's talking about all the new oil and gas being produced thanks to new drilling methods.

But there's another narrative nipping at the shale boom's heels: solar energy. And it's expanding just as fast.

It's just that the scale is not quite the same. But that's changing.

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Below is a chart showing where "socket" or grid parity has already been achieved. (Grid parity is when a source of power becomes cost competitive with other sources.) The lines represent the pattern of expanding solar power in a given year — so at peak solar exposure, parts of the southwest U.S. are now already capable of meeting their electricity needs via solar panels.

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[tinrobot]

1. Then why does it still cost so much to install residential solar?

I look at the cost of raw panels, inverters, and the hardware required to install a home grid-tie system, and it is $1-2/watt. I could easily get a system for my home for under $10K, which makes it appealing.

Installers however, are charging 2-3 times that for an installation ($3-5/watt). I can't afford $30-50K for solar. Does it really cost five figures to install a system when the install takes 2-3 days, max?

[PADemD]

2. Have you seen the solar sheds?

Some of them are reasonable.

https://www.google.com/search?q=solar+shed&client=firefox-a&hs=iyB&rls=org.mozilla:en-US fficial&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=oZeVUYrPFbbj4APuhoAg&ved=0CDQQsAQ&biw=747&bih=324