The report below is interesting but even more interesting and relevant is
that Florida based utility companies already say that solar hot water is the
cheapest form of energy.a consortium of Florida utility companies has
already met to discuss how they can get more people to install solar hot
water.its happening right now.

Go Solar :-)

Nate Mitten

 

Solar 'competitive with coal' by 2010 

 <http://www.environmental-finance.com/> Environmental Finance, 5 April 2007
- The cost of the cheapest solar power could be on par with that of
electricity from coal plants by 2010, according to Photon Consulting. 

The Boston, Massachusetts-based firm predicts that solar electricity will
cost $0.18/kWh in Germany, $0.13 in California and $0.12/kWh in Spain by
2010 - while industry leaders will be able to bring that latter price down
to $0.10/kWh, equivalent to the retail cost of electricity from a new
coal-fired power plant. 

"These economics could quickly result in a very large market opportunity for
solar energy," the company said, estimating that, by 2010, solar electricity
will cost less than the retail electricity price for 50% of residential
customer in OECD countries.

However, the study - The True Cost of Solar Power - suggests that the makers
of solar photovoltaic systems are not likely to pass the full cost
reductions through to customers, offering "an excellent opportunity to
expand their earnings in the coming years". 

"Prices for solar electricity [systems] in 2004 have become disconnected
from costs. Because the demand is much greater than the supply, a reduction
in cost will not automatically trickle down to the consumer," said Michael
Rogol, one of the study's authors.

"This scenario will likely continue for several years, with solar prices
remaining strong due to very large demand," he added. 

The summary findings of the report can be found be clicking here
<http://www.photon.de/presse/mitteilungen/KeyPoints.pdf>