Solar Power – Will the time come soon when no subsidies are needed?

The good news is that that time when subsidies are not needed for solar power is coming and may be here very soon.

One problem with renewable power, such as solar PV (sun to electricity) and wind is the cost. Presently, to be competitive with fossil fuels renewable power must be subsidized. Subsidies include tax breaks and the renewable energy requirements that require that utilities buy a certain amount of renewable energy, even if they have to pay more than their selling price for the power.

ConserveNC certainly supports these subsidies. Oil, coal, and nuclear power have been subsidized, and a subsidy is necessary to “kick start” new technology. But eventually, any technology will have to stand on its own without subsidies.

The cost of solar power is dropping fast. At the same time, the cost of coal and other fossil fuels is increasing. A recent story in the Raleigh News & Observer had some interesting data. The story was about Strata Solar, a company in Chapel Hill that is building large, industrial scale, solar farms.

According to Marks Wilhelm of Strata Solar, the installed cost of solar panels as fallen from $9/watt a few years ago to $3/watt this year and in several years will fall to $1/watt. It was not reported if that included other equipment, such as an inverter and equipment to connect to the power grid. However, that is a very big decrease. If that trend continues for only a few more years solar will be directly competitive with coal even without subsidy.

According to the N&O article, Strata Solar is the dominate developer of large solar power installations in North Carolina, with 15 industrial scale solar farms planned for completion this year. They are currently building an installation in Chatham County that, at 1 MW, will be one of their smaller installations. They are currently negotiating for a 20MW project.

Solar power, of course, works only when the sun shines. In North Carolina, that is the equivalent of about 4 hours a day of full sunlight. So a 100 watt panel will produce about 4 watt hours per day, or about 1,460 watt hours per year. Because solar produces power part time, there must be other plants, typically gas or coal fired, to produce power when the sun isn’t shining. For that reason, the cost of solar power has to be compared to the cost of fuel for a conventional power plant.

However, any time the sun is shining and a solar panel is producing power, less coal and gas is being burned. So solar power, even though it works only during the day, will reduce the amount of CO2 and pollution being produced.