No one can argue that solar power isn’t a very good idea. But, even with all the marketing and investment around it today, solar power still only accounts for about 1 percent of US electricity, with coal and natural gas over 65 percent, and that is not likely to change anytime soon.
More people are signing up for solar power across the nation, but there is still along way to go before it is one of the most used sources, and growth may even slow in the forthcoming years. But, the target set by the US Department of Energy‘s SunShot Initiative for the cost of building solar farms was to drop to less than $1 per watt by 2020, and it looks as though we are on par to achieve this.
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However, if you look more closely into it, $1 is not really the true value of per watt solar power as this does not take into consideration the building of transmission lines in which to deliver the power, the storage systems, or software or personnel required to run the solar power farm. When all of this is taken into consideration, it is quite similar costs to that of producing electricity from a natural gas plant, but only when the sun is shining, so is it really that good a bargain?
However, the costs to for the consumer will still be seen to be competitive with other forms of energy, so for that reason alone we will see an increase as to the amount of solar power being used, albeit a slow development. As long as governments and organizations can regulate the solar power industry, and not produce excess amounts they are unable to store, then everyone should benefit from solar power and will be a more healthy option for the environment also.
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