Solar power is getting cheaper. It’s something of a parlor game among energy companies and analysts to predict when, exactly, solar will achieve “grid parity” with coal and other cheap sources of electricity—in other words, when it will be just as economical to buy clean, renewable energy as it will be to buy coal power. There’s no clear answer: government subsidies will play a role, and solar will become a player in some regions and countries long before it makes sense everywhere. And just because solar is cheap doesn’t mean it will become the world’s primary source of power overnight. When solar is as cheap as coal, it’ll make more financial sense for investors to build solar plants. But they’ll still have to be built.
Read the entire article at GOOD: Across the Globe, Solar Power Just Keeps Getting Cheaper.
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I wish I understood how this will all sort out. With newer, less bulky, forms of solar collectors becoming available, aren’t folks going to lose money who were in the “first wave” of this technology? (many subsidized from the feds) That’s just a question to ponder, I suppose, but the concern I have is, how toxic are these materials?? When folks start pitching them in favor of newer, higher-yield solar products, can they actually be recycled safely?? I know the landfills are going to end up full of tiny, solar-powered yard/garden path lights that are being sold by the bazillions now (with their little batteries, which are certainly toxic) but are very cheaply made. What becomes of these big arrays when the technology makes them obsolete?