Is Solar Getting Cheaper?

For oh so long, arguments against implementing renewable energy have focused on cost. Of course, the financial cost is only part of the picture—the other part being the immeasurable cost of long term damage to our environment if we don't change the way we consume energy.

Normal old coal is dirty and cheap. Clean coal is still kind of dirty, but really expensive. Photovoltaics, wind energy, geothermal plants, are pricey, but very clean. Even with arguments such as this, the reality is that renewable energy sources are expensive to implement. There is hope, however, for a competitive market. It seems that prices have declined fairly dramatically in the past six months. According to New Energy Finance, a London-based research firm:

The price for long-term silicon contracts has fallen about 50 percent this year from a year ago and come close to the spot market price of $67 per kilogram, or about $0.50 per watt.

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image from Dominic's pics on flickr.com
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Adding to that, there is the Wall Street Journal, who point out that selling prices for solar panels have come down about 40 percent in the last six months alone. These lower silicon costs will hopefully result in larger markets for solar panels.