WOV

Solar Generation Costs on Track to Achieve Grid Parity

Jason I think you're hitting him on a badly constructed sentence we each read differently - he's describing a time *when* solar can survive without government subsidies, while you're pointing out we won't get to that point (or will get there only many years later) if the subsidies don't drive continuing volume expansion...(and you're right, that public money is far better spent in the most part on more cost-efficient commercial applications, while keeping some capability to do more modest systems...)

Solar Generation Costs on Track to Achieve Grid Parity

Jason, the majority of MW of solar development is not in the wholesale baseload power market (where your prices are broadly accurate), but in the retail net metered space (where full retail rates can be $.16 - $.25) or, if wholesale, then mostly as peaking units offsetting marginal gas peakers (with similarly inflated prices - an exercise for the student would be to go look up PJM market hourly LMPs and correlate them to solar output. Hint: there are individual hours in the Northeast summers where *bulk* power can hit $1 / kWh. Yes, kilowatt-hour.)

The factors you cite are correct, but the non-time-differentiate... average prices you cite demonstrate a significantly less sophisticated conceptual grasp of the energy market than the levelized cost of investment + O&M basis for solar comparison used in the article. Further, by arguing that solar will not get to grid parity without government support, you win an argument only against a point not made in the article - I hope you aren't signed up to take the GREs any time soon!

In fact, these same calculations are generally used within the investment and solar communities - the question is, what happens *after* grid [parity is achieved? Current utility rate design and public utility commission thinking is ill-equipped to handle or value sub-market customer sited generation.