Sempra solar energy project makes advances in costs (grid parity)

[jpak]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thinsolar5-2009jan05,1,1659151.story

Generating clean electricity that's as cheap as power from fossil fuels is the Holy Grail of green-energy companies. A new solar project powering California homes appears to be closing in on that prize.

Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy in San Diego, just took the wraps off a 10-megawatt solar farm in Nevada. That's small by industry standards, enough to light just 6,400 homes. But the ramifications are potentially huge.

A veteran analyst has calculated that the facility can produce power at a cost of 7.5 cents a kilowatt-hour, less than the 9-cent benchmark for conventional electricity.

If that's so, it marks a milestone that renewable fans have longed for: "grid parity," in which electricity from the sun, wind or other green sources can meet or beat the price performance of such carbon-based fuels as coal and natural gas.

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[Arctic Dave]

1. When we this becomes more abundant we can finally give the ME

the middle finger.

Fingers crossed.

[FogerRox]

2. Parity, huh, thanks.

[DCKit]

3. Exajoules, you say!!!!

Think of all the poor little children poisoned in the manufacture of that sunlight.

It'll never work.

:sarcasm: Though I am awfully pissed at how much I'm currently paying for electricity if the benchmark for the other sources is $.075/KWh.