Solar found to be cheaper than gas in three year study

[hab...@anony.net]

And this is in an oil rich country !

http://main.omanobserver.om/node/164478

EXCERPT


Solar energy highly cost-effective
Thu, 16 May 2013
By Hasan Kamoonpuri � MUSCAT � Three years of successful real time
continuous technical monitoring of the 6 MW/year concentrator photo
voltaic (CPV) demonstrator at Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) has given
positive results such as cost-effective, high yield energy production,
and minimal water and maintenance requirements. Since May 2010, when
the PEIE initiated a pilot project for R&D to test the validity of the
CPV solar technology, the project has generated important data which
has been assembled and integrated to create valuable knowledge about
this application, Dr Hesham A Lotfy, Business Development Expert,
PEIE, told the Observer.


PEIE has also performed financial studies for CPV and PV applications
on larger scales and the price has been between 70-80 baisa per kWh
which is highly feasible and competitive and can even be lower than
the cost of fossil fuel specifically for remote and rural areas when
the subsidies are included in cost calculation. At a workshop
involving several stakeholders from ministries, SQU, PEIE, and
electricity distribution companies, it was found that the real price
of electricity production per kWh and distribution to the end
customer, excluding subsidies, would be between 80-120 baisa per kWh
for gas-based plants in Muscat Governorate, and that for remote rural
areas the cost of electricity production from diesel can exceed 150
baisa per kWh.

This means �If the calculations generated from the workshop are
appropriate the cost of utilising solar energy will be equal or even
cheaper than gas-based plants and for sure much cheaper for remote and
rural areas�, he added. In addition to cost and environmental
benefits, solar power plants are good not only from the ecological and
sustainability point of view, but also from an economic and financial
perspective in that an industry like solar energy can open avenues for
SMEs and entrepreneurs. Solar power plants can become active players
in the economy

[hab...@anony.net]

excerpt

Today, 250 million Chinese rely on solar energy for their domestic hot
water; 90 percent of Israeli homes are equipped with solar hot water
heaters; and Germany has more than 26 gigawatts of installed
photovoltaic capacity.
By comparison, current industry figures place U.S. installed
photovoltaic capacity near 7.2 gigawatts.
Then, beginning in the mid- to late 1990s a very important thing
happened � the United States began to reawaken to the potential of
solar energy.
This reawakening can be traced to number of factors including
technological breakthroughs, the widespread availability of silicon
solar cells, the rising cost of gasoline and other fossil fuels and
the adverse environmental impact of conventional power plants.
Solar was "hot" again and, thanks to an abundance of sunshine and
entrepreneurs, much of this reawakening took place in California.
In 2003 I moved to California and accepted a faculty position at the
newest campus in the University of California system, UC Merced. It
was an opportunity to establish a dedicated solar lab at a start-up
campus in a state that was rapidly embracing solar energy, and I
couldn't pass it up.
Almost immediately, I began collaborating with a group of Silicon
Valley entrepreneurs to develop concentrating photovoltaic and thermal
systems, and my solar lab was up and running.
Shortly thereafter, we received very generous contributions from Sarah
Kurtz and an anonymous donor. These funds enabled us to further push
these technologies toward commercialization.
I knew I was in the right place, and the numbers support that
perception.
According to a recent report by the Solar Energy Industries
Association, in 2012 California became the first state to install more
than 1 gigawatts of solar capacity in a single year, continuing a
trend that has seen the total amount of installed capacity in the
state virtually double each year since 2009.
California is leading the way, but other states are not far behind.
Arizona, for example, installed 710 megawatts in 2012, and New Jersey
took third place with 415 megawatts installed.
This rapid growth in the U.S. solar market is driven by a combination
of lower prices for solar systems, the desire to reduce carbon
emissions, an overall acceptance of the technology by the finance
sector and the desire for energy independence.
But the more we embrace solar energy as a nation, the more we come to
realize there are still opportunities for innovation and the more we
understand just where those opportunities lie.
System costs must continue their downward trajectory, the
environmental impact of the manufacturing and disposal processes must
be minimized, the effects of intermittency must be reduced, the impact
of large solar resources on the energy grid must be better understood
a

Read more here:
http://www.modbee.com/2013/05/18/2721760/solars-future-is-so-bright-youll.html#storylink=cpy

[hab...@anony.net]

excerpt

Coal Tax To Fund India�s 750 MW Solar Power Capacity Addition Plan In
2013


The Indian government is set to repose millions of dollars in
financial support for solar power project developers from the coal tax
corpus it has accumulated over the last few years. Project developers
looking to set up projects under the second phase of the Jawaharlal
Nehru National Solar Mission will receive financial assistance over
capital cost expenditure. According to the guidelines recently
released by the government, the project developers will receive
financial assistance of up �
http://cleantechnica.com/