Welcome to the (PV) Revolution: Emanuel Sachs and Frank van Mierlo

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http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/08/test10

Solar at the cost of coal. Sounds like the punch line to a joke, some might say. How can solar energy–with its reputation for high cost–compete with baseload coal, still the dominant fuel for U.S. electric power generation?

But spend time talking with Frank van Mierlo and Emanuel Sachs, principals at 1366 Technologies based near Boston, and their conviction shines through: solar just may be able to reach grid parity with coal, and sooner than you may think.

“I truly believe it’s doable,” says Sachs, pictured left. “I believe it’s even doable without assigning a cost to carbon.”

Strong stuff, but 1366 is working on disruptive technologies and incremental improvements to existing technologies that could, once fully commercialized, drive down the cost of silicon-based photovoltaic cells. Sachs says the key measure is grid parity and that solar PV is approaching costs comparable to natural gas-fired peaking units.

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