The cost of producing electricity from the sun’s rays will fall by more than half within a decade, according to a forecast, boosting the economics of the UAE’s investment in renewable energy and making solar power more competitive with fossil fuels.

By 2020, the average cost of producing electricity from solar panels could decrease to as little as 10.5 US cents a kilowatt-hour (kwh) in sunny countries, which is just about 1 cent above the average price of power in the US today, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) says.

The cost of power from solar thermal plants, a rival technology to panels that uses the heat of the sun to produce steam like a standard power plant, could also fall as low as 10 cents a kwh, the IEA said.

Both technologies now cost three to five times as much as electricity from conventional sources such as natural gas and coal.

In order to reach the economies of scale necessary to achieve these lower costs, the industry will need significantly expanded subsidies and other forms of support, the IEA said.
The next 10 years are a “critical window … during which [photovoltaics] is expected to achieve competitiveness with the power grid retail prices in many regions”, the agency said.

GulfSol 2011 (www.gulfsol.com) (20-22 September 2011, Abu Dhabi) is the first fully-focused solar exhibition to take place in the region, providing an unique platform for the solar industry to do business, undiluted by the presence of other alternative energy formats.

A Solar Show for a Solar Industry.

Full details of this exciting event are continually updated in Asian Solar magazine (www.asiansolarmag.com) and also on this website.

To reserve your space and discuss the marketing opportunities that such a dedicated platform can provide your brand, contact the team today on:

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