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from the power-to-the-people['s-homes] dept.
Residential solar is cheap, but can it get cheaper? Paths to $0.05 per kWh
The price of solar panels has fallen far and fast. But the Energy Department (DOE) wants to bring those costs down even further, especially for residential homes. After all, studies have shown that if every inch of useable rooftop in the US had solar panels on it, the panels could provide about 40 percent of the nation's power demand. Right now, the DOE's goal is residential solar that costs 5ยข per kilowatt-hour by 2030.
In a new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), researchers mapped out some possible pathways to that goal. Notably, the biggest barriers to cost reduction appear to be the stubborn "soft costs" of solar installation. Those soft costs include supply chain costs, labor costs, and sales and marketing costs that aren't related to the physical production of solar cells at a factory.
NREL wrote: "Because the 2030 target likely will not be achieved under business-as-usual trends, we examine two key market segments that demonstrate significant opportunities for cost savings and market growth: installing PV at the time of roof replacement and installing PV as part of the new home construction process."
The report mapped out two "visionary" pathways (as well as two "less-aggressive' pathways) to achieving those cost reductions within the roof replacement and new home construction markets. The result? The only way NREL found it could achieve the "visionary" cost reductions was by assuming that solar installers would start selling low-cost solar-integrated roof tiles before 2030, "which could significantly reduce supply chain, installation labor, and permitting costs."
[...] [It's] not just Tesla working on this: the Colorado-based lab cites CertainTeed's solar shingle product and GAF's solar panels as examples of products breaking the divide between roof and solar panel installation.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @05:06PM (2 children)
The problem with this idea is that all the savings would probably go to the electric companies while they continue to charge us the same exact rate. If we install our own panels, we could save money in the long run on electric bills.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 21 2018, @07:21PM
yeah, that's what they want to do. use tax dollars to subsidize then the utilities get the savings. try to charge us for recycling the damn things too. just like they do everything else.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 22 2018, @03:46PM
Never underestimate the creativity of governments when it comes to taking your money. For example, in Germany you have to pay for electricity that you produce for your own consumption: [noerr.com]