Solar Power Will Be Cheaper by 2015
According to a new report that was recently released from Vice President Joe Biden’s office, solar power will be much more affordable by 2015. The current cost of a kilowatt hour generated from rooftop solar panels is about 21 cents. Biden’s office says that in five years, that cost will be cut to 10 cents per kilowatt hour. The report also predicts that utility scale solar power will be even less expensive costing only 6 cents compared to 13 cents today.
Last year, the Recovery Act allocated $100 billion that was to be used for research into energy, medical science and transportation. Biden said tht the fruits of those investments are already paying off. Funds that are provided by the public sector are helping to stimulate innovation in the private sector. With the help of both state and federal subsidies, the solar industry is expected to continue.
“We’re planting the seeds of innovation, but private companies and the nation’s top researchers are helping them grow, launching entire new industries, transforming our economy and creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the process,” the vice president said in releasing the report.