Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
earther.com
Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
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Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#2Relevant bits:
> “On their face, they’re less than a third the price of building a new coal or natural gas power plant,” Ramez Naam, an energy expert and lecturer at Singularity University, told Earther in an email. “In fact, building these plants is cheaper than just operating an existing coal or natural gas plant.”
> There’s a 30 percent federal investment tax credit for solar projects that helps drive down the cost of this and other solar projects. But Naam said even if you take away that credit, “these bids, un-subsidized, are still cheaper than any new coal or gas plants, and possibly cheaper than operating existing plants.”
(emphasis mine)
Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#3Relevant bits: > “On their face, they’re less than a third the price of building a new coal or natural gas power plant,” Ramez Naam, an energy expert and lecturer at Singularity University, told Earther in an email. “In fact, building these plants is cheaper than just operating an existing coal or natural gas plant.” > There’s a 30 percent federal investment tax credit for solar projects that helps drive down the cos…
>> Relevant bits:
>> “On their face, they’re less than a third the price of building a new coal or natural gas power plant,” Ramez Naam, an energy expert and lecturer at Singularity University, told Earther in an email. “In fact, building these plants is cheaper than just operating an existing coal or natural gas plant.”
>> There’s a 30 percent federal investment tax credit for solar projects that helps drive down the cost of this and other solar projects. But Naam said even if you take away that credit, “these bids, un-subsidized, are still cheaper than any new coal or gas plants, and possibly cheaper than operating existing plants.”
I'm assuming that's without factoring in the health cost externalities.
Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#4Relevant bits: > “On their face, they’re less than a third the price of building a new coal or natural gas power plant,” Ramez Naam, an energy expert and lecturer at Singularity University, told Earther in an email. “In fact, building these plants is cheaper than just operating an existing coal or natural gas plant.” > There’s a 30 percent federal investment tax credit for solar projects that helps drive down the cos…
>> Relevant bits: >> “On their face, they’re less than a third the price of building a new coal or natural gas power plant,” Ramez Naam, an energy expert and lecturer at Singularity University, told Earther in an email. “In fact, building these plants is cheaper than just operating an existing coal or natural gas plant.” >> There’s a 30 percent federal investment tax credit for solar projects that helps drive down th…
Yes, this is solely for cost of power. The healthcare savings and quality of life improvements are an additional bonus on top of very cheap power.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/air-pollution-triggering... (Air pollution is triggering diabetes in 3.2 million people each year)
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-other-reason-... (The Other Reason to Shift away from Coal: Air Pollution That Kills Thousands Every Year)
Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#5Relevant bits: > “On their face, they’re less than a third the price of building a new coal or natural gas power plant,” Ramez Naam, an energy expert and lecturer at Singularity University, told Earther in an email. “In fact, building these plants is cheaper than just operating an existing coal or natural gas plant.” > There’s a 30 percent federal investment tax credit for solar projects that helps drive down the cos…
>It will operate at a flat rate of $23.76 per megawatt-hour over the course of a 25-year power purchasing agreement
Does anyone have data on typical wholesale power costs?
Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#6Relevant bits: > “On their face, they’re less than a third the price of building a new coal or natural gas power plant,” Ramez Naam, an energy expert and lecturer at Singularity University, told Earther in an email. “In fact, building these plants is cheaper than just operating an existing coal or natural gas plant.” > There’s a 30 percent federal investment tax credit for solar projects that helps drive down the cos…
>It will operate at a flat rate of $23.76 per megawatt-hour over the course of a 25-year power purchasing agreement Does anyone have data on typical wholesale power costs?
Various data here: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/wholesale/
From my brief browsing, $23.76 is <70% of the average $/MWh price across the available data.
Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#7Relevant bits: > “On their face, they’re less than a third the price of building a new coal or natural gas power plant,” Ramez Naam, an energy expert and lecturer at Singularity University, told Earther in an email. “In fact, building these plants is cheaper than just operating an existing coal or natural gas plant.” > There’s a 30 percent federal investment tax credit for solar projects that helps drive down the cos…
>It will operate at a flat rate of $23.76 per megawatt-hour over the course of a 25-year power purchasing agreement Does anyone have data on typical wholesale power costs?
that is about $2 cents on kwh! Sounds about right for wholesale price.
Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#8This is truly good news, but is it really worth calling out that a record was broken when it's been trending down regularly over time?
Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#9This is truly good news, but is it really worth calling out that a record was broken when it's been trending down regularly over time?
Key milestone awareness is important. The more people who know the raw economics, the better choices that can be made.
Re: Solar Just Hit a Record Low Price in the U.S
#10This is truly good news, but is it really worth calling out that a record was broken when it's been trending down regularly over time?
The record being broken is just the headline of the article. The body is about the trend. The first sentence makes that perfectly clear.