Rooftop solar electricity on pace to beat coal, oil

[ScienceRocks]

Rooftop solar electricity on pace to beat coal, oil

Today, only 10 states boast solar energy costs that are on par with those of conventional electricity generation methods, such as coal-fired power plants. Those states include Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico and Vermont.

Last year, those states using solar power accounted about 90% of U.S. installations. But, by 2016, Deutsche expects solar energy to reach price parity in all 50 states.

For example, the cost of solar-generated electricity in the top 10 states for capacity ranges from 11-15 cents per kilowatt hour (c/kWh), compared to the retail electricity price of 11-37 c/kWh. In those states, there is currently about 6 gigawatts (GW or billion watts) of solar electricity installed. However, with the price of solar panels dropping, new solar leasing programs and the availability of low-cost financing, Deutsche expects an installed capacity growth of about 400% to 500% over the next three to four years.

Currently, the U.S. has 16GW of installed solar capacity, with nearly 5GW of solar capacity was added last year alone, according to Deutsche.

This means solar is becoming economical. So it will increase in %.