Duke: Solar now Cheaper

Solar now cheaper than nuclear: mO3 Power

19 January 2011 - The generation game has changed so much over the last decade that electricity generated from solar energy will be cheaper than electricity generated from the proposed new nuclear plants according to UK Market leaders – mO3 Power.

“The cost of generating power from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has steadily fallen over the last ten years while the projected costs of constructing the new nuclear plants have ballooned,” said Ken Moss, CEO of mO3.

“The cost of producing and installing PV cells has been steadily dropping for some years,” he said. “A PV system now costs about half of what it did in 1998.”

Developments in solar technology and manufacturing processes combined with a steady increase in demand are causing the reduction in costs and mO3 expect that decline to continue. The average price of a PV module in 2010 was $1.50/kW and by mid- year that figure is expected to drop to a maximum of $1.10kW.

Research from Duke University in America concluded that the costs of solar power had reached the point of ‘Historic Crossover’ with the nuclear industry in North Carolina. The price of nuclear is expected to be 16-18c/kW as compared to solar PV at 14c in 2011.

“It can be predicted with some confidence that the same will be true in the UK by the time that the new nuclear reactors have been built,” said Mr Moss. {continued}