“As production costs fall, technologies continue to advance, and supply and demand come into balance,“ the report reads, “[solar power] prices will fall more than 40 percent in the next three years relative to prices in late 2006. Such a decline would make solar electricity far more affordable in markets across the globe.“
Additionally,
Already, global production of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, has risen six-fold since 2000 and grew 41 percent in 2006 alone, says the report from the Washington, DC-based Worldwatch Institute and the Prometheus Institute in
“Today, high cost is the largest barrier, but this is a temporary challenge,“ said Worldwatch’s Janet Sawin, who authored the report.
The growth of solar power has been fastest in
In
Researchers said the biggest surprise in the report was the dramatic growth in PV production in
“To say that Chinese PV producers plan to expand production rapidly in the year ahead would be an understatement,“ Travis Bradford, president of the Prometheus Institute, said in a statement. “They have raised billions [of dollars] from international [initial public offerings (IPOs) of stock] to build capacity and increase scale with the goal of driving down costs. Four Chinese IPOs are expected to come to market this month alone.“
Most of the solar panels manufactured in
Sawin said that
Solar energy has already dramatically improved living conditions for some 100,000 people in rural
In the country where millions supplement a sparse and unreliable electricity grid with kerosene lighting, which is responsible for untold pollution-related deaths and disabilities each year, roof-installed solar panels have offered a clean energy alternative to run a small fan, radio, or television, and a few lights for working or reading.
A UN-sponsored program has encouraged banks in the southern Indian state of Karnataka to finance small loans for the solar systems--typically $300 to $500 for a system to power two to four small lights or appliances.
The UN credits the solar panels with “better grades for schoolchildren, better productivity for needlework artisan groups and other cottage industries, and even better sales at fruit stands, where produce is no longer spoiled by fumes from kerosene lamps.“
The
PIN/ YAHOO.COM
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