Interactive Map Illustrates U.S. Solar Grid Parity

Even if solar generated electricity reaches grid parity, why should I as a home owner shell out thousands of dollars to generate electricity for the same price I pay the utility? Of course the answer is to stop climate change, but we still need incentives, and generous ones. Better yet, disincentives on carbon generated electricity, and stiff disincentives. The deniers are suckering the green crowd into believing that everything has to be cost competitive while they conveniently ignore the cost of rebuilding and protecting our coastal cities, let alone the costs of drought and other weather effects that will be much worse with climate change.

V-Bruse, You are so very correct in your assessment of what is happening. Additionally RD&T companies like us see a market that we can well compete in because never in our lives will traditional power generation come down in cost and never can one own their power generators. The traditional power systems have no positive ROI for the end user.

Distributed and/or stand alone systems can be bought and/or owned and yes we can generate a positive ROI. As a Renewable Energy (RE) Solar-Wind RD&T we have learned that we are very close to achieving first parity with and secondly next to being cheaper than traditional power providers. Stand alone systems do not require grids. This the smarter answer to the grid problem. Get off the grid.

Due to multiple RE technological developments we will see RE surge in the next couple of years. Current basic RD&T has led to significant Intellectual Property (i.e., patent) efforts. Takes about 2, to 3 years to get ones Utility patents.

Ron Barrett, Chief Engineer RD&T American Solar Wind Energy www.ronbarrett.com

Excellent point, Bruce! It is high time for a Carbon Tax that would be used for paying for all of the damage that CO2 is causing. This would level the playing field.

I did an analysis of residential grid parity over a year ago for Homepower Magazine, with a spreadsheet for analyzing an individual site.
(See https://homepower.com/articles/solargrid-parity). The biggest unknown is the assumed rate of inflation for grid electricity vs. general inflation. Since then, the decline in the cost of natural gas due to fracking has kept the price of electricity down (at least in the Northeast). I would be interested to see what assumptions were made by here Mr Farrell about the future cost of electricity.

Jay3, Interesting in that fracked-gas is being sold as the "cheaper" power way to go. Here in Missouri & Kansas, the traditional utilities are asking for rate increase. YES, to pay for the change over to cracked-gas. In the end, fracked-gas may well not be cheaper in the farm belt as it contaminates the ground water (at a rate of over a million gallons per well) and we are in a drought. So it is we have farmers here already trucking water to their farms. These inter-relationships need to be taken into account.
Ron Barrett, Chief Engineer RD&T American Solar Wind Energy www.ronbarrett.com

the reson you would go with solar is:

1) you would make money by selling power back into the grid. your not "paying" anything contrary to what one post says.

2) you would shed the yoke of the big power companies if that matters to you.

solar is the only form of power generation that frees homeowners from BIG powers grip. that's why they hate solar. decenralized power generation strikes fear in thie hearts.