The Falling Cost Of Solar Energy Is Surprising Everyone [View all]

[jpak]

http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-the-solar-age-is-dawning-2013-5

Everyone's talking about all the new oil and gas being produced thanks to new drilling methods.

But there's another narrative nipping at the shale boom's heels: solar energy. And it's expanding just as fast.

It's just that the scale is not quite the same. But that's changing.

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Below is a chart showing where "socket" or grid parity has already been achieved. (Grid parity is when a source of power becomes cost competitive with other sources.) The lines represent the pattern of expanding solar power in a given year — so at peak solar exposure, parts of the southwest U.S. are now already capable of meeting their electricity needs via solar panels.

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