In contrast to other renewable energy sources such as wind / hydro, the developments in Solar technology are continuing to improve manufacturing and electrical efficiency and drive down the price of generating electricity.
An american company, Nanosolar has been developing thinfilm solar technology that allows them to "print" the surface of the panel much like a printing press.
Recently Nanosolar shipped its first panels & claims to be able to sell them for 99cents / W
I ran an NPV on this assuming, what I thought to be conservative numbers:
Discount Rate = 10.0%
Sun hours per day = 5 (i.e. daily energy generated is equivalent to 5 hours at maximum power production)
Life Span = 10 years
Cost per Watt installed = $1.5 (50% extra to cover taxes, installation & maintenance)
The figure I came out with was 6.8c/kWh ... which is pretty good. Not as cheap as coal (3-4c/kWh), but alot cheaper than older solar technologies which were in the region of 40c/kWh.
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