Solar is simply not new. What is new, however, is very cheap solar panels. These low prices incentive renewable energy empowerment. Solar can now succeed using well-merited competitive values.
In fact, solar is cheaper than electricity from the grid for tens or even over a hundred million Americans.
Image Credit: Solar panel installation via shutterstock
Green Car Report’s John Voelcker agrees further expounds on the matter:
Solar power for your home has been around a long time, but for many homeowners, it’s required subsidies, special financing arrangements, and still delivered long payback periods.
That’s changing fast, according to the CEO of a major Texas electric utility.
David Crane, who runs NRG Energy, says that in fully half the states of the union, electricity from residential solar panels will be cost-competitive with that delivered by local electric utilities by next year.
Another important matter is that electric vehicles will enable a more decentralized, self-sufficient energy system. John writes: “Once homes can not only generate but store energy, it’s at least possible they could decouple from the grid entirely–meaning they’re lost to their local utility forever.”
Crane is a rare utility head focused on shifting his company (constructively) toward a solar power future. He acknowledges that customers will increasingly be interested in disconnecting from the grid with their own solar and storage systems (as well as other distributed energy systems). How can NRG Energy keep its business? By leading the way into solar and storage offerings.
“Crane is positioning NRG to be the supplier of solar arrays, fuel cells, and microturbines to power customers in this age of grid obsolescence,” Navigant Research writes. “It’s remarkable to see a utility betting on the grid’s eventual obsolescence, but it’s important to note that within that framework, NRG is still maintaining its core business as a power provider.”
Betting the house on one future often isn’t wise. Crane and NRG Energy aren’t doing that. But many utilities still are when they bet on a future of business as usual.
John closes: “it’s clear that Crane wants NRG Energy to evolve beyond its traditional generation-and-distribution model, even if it cannibalizes existing businesses.”
My note for Crane and others such as him — please do cannibalize all and any business models related to toxic fuel use and fossil fuels. Cannibalize away. Out of sight. Never to see — or worse, smell — again.
The key these days, however, is awareness. Hundreds of millions of people may benefit from cheap solar power, but who knows that?
Of course, here on CleanTechnica, we’ve been making the point for years. Here’s a quote from 2012: “Many decision-makers have yet to catch up with the improvements in the economics of solar power from recent reductions in the cost of the technology, a working paper released by [Bloomberg New Energy Finance] said today.”
And, at that time: “In the past 3 years, solar power has grown four-fold. With this and also largely because of this, solar panel prices have dropped about 75% in that time. If you happened to check solar prices 4 years ago but not since then, that means you’ve got a pretty warped sense of the price of solar.”
The trend has only continued.
Read Related articles:
- Which Solar Prices Really Matter To You?
- Solar Prices Continue to Drop Despite U.S. Tariffs on Chinese Equipment
- Solar Prices Much More Competitive than Typically Thought, New Study Finds
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