Solar electricity is now CHEAPER than grid electricity in China — with one in five cities finding solar renewable energy lower cost than coal.Electricity produced from commercial and industrial solar energy systems is now cheaper in Chinese cities than that supplied by the national grid.
In addition, researchers found that when built into the local grid, solar generators produce lower-cost electricity than coal in 22 per cent of the country's cities.The findings suggest that there may now be an economic incentive that will promote the uptake of commercial and industrial solar power systems in China.
How much are solar panels for a house?With solar panels material decreasing price,cost of solar panels is less and less.That’s why solar electricity is now very competitive.
China has become the global leader in the manufacturing of solar power systems — an enthusiasm that may spread from export to national use.
Chemical engineer Jinyue Yan of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and colleagues estimated the total costs of setting up and running solar energy systems in Chinese cities and compared these costs with city-level grid electricity prices.The researchers also estimated grid-scale solar electricity prices, comparing these with those derived from coal-fired power plants.
'In recent years, China has become not just a large producer but a major market for solar photovoltaics,' the researchers wrote in their paper.
'The solar photovoltaics industry in China [has] expanded from a tiny, rural-orientated solar programme in the 1990s to the global leader in what may soon be the world’s largest renewable energy source.'
