Dow Jones reports on the race to develop cheap, efficient solar panels (thanks, Nicole!).
Dow Jones: Hampered by its high cost, solar power accounts for less than 1% of world-wide electricity generation. It costs 35 to 45 cents to produce a kilowatt hour of electricity from solar panels, compared with about three to five cents burning coal, according to the International Energy Agency. A different approach, known as concentrating solar power, uses huge arrays of mirrors or solar dishes to track the sun and collect its heat to make electricity. Yet even that costs nine to 12 cents to generate one kilowatt hour.
The European Photovoltaic Technology Platform even predicts in a new study, that solar power will be competitive with fossil power generation in Southern Europe by 2015 and in Europe by 2020.
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