September 10, 2012
WHAT WAS SOLYNDRA?:
Sun Peeks Through in Solar : Overseas Suppliers Trounce U.S. Panel Makers but Installations Are Soaring (RYAN TRACY And CASSANDRA SWEET, 9/09/12, WSJ)
The U.S. is on pace to install as much solar power this year as it did in this century's entire first decade: at least 2,500 megawatts, the equivalent of more than two nuclear-power plants. The U.S. added about 742 megawatts of solar capacity in the second quarter, or enough to power about 150,000 homes, the Solar Energy Industries Association said in a report scheduled for release Monday.The price gap with traditional power sources is shrinking fast. When President Jimmy Carter installed a solar-powered water-heating system at the White House in the late 1970s, solar panels cost about $15 per watt of electricity generated, or about $50 in current dollars, according to GTM Research, a consulting firm that co-wrote the new report. Now they average about 84 cents a watt.
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 10, 2012 7:08 PM
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