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Favorite quote so far (paraphrased):
Solar's getting so cheap that gas-fired plants can use it as a fuel-saver!
The expiration of the federal subsidy might put a crimp in that, though.
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Utility-Scale Solar 2014
An Empirical Analysis of Project Cost, Performance, and Pricing Trends in the United States
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PPA Prices: Driven by lower installed project prices, improving capacity factors, and – more recently – the rush to build projects in advance of the scheduled reversion of the 30% investment tax credit (“ITC”) to 10% in 2017, levelized PPA prices for utility-scale PV have fallen dramatically over time, by a steady ~$25/MWh per year on average from 2006 through 2013, with a smaller price decline of ~$10/MWh evident in the 2014 and 2015 samples. Some of the most-recent PPAs in the Southwest have levelized PPA prices as low as (or even lower than) $40/MWh (in real 2014 dollars). At these low levels – which appear to be robust, given the strong response to recent utility solicitations – PV compares favorably to just the fuel costs (i.e., ignoring fixed capital costs) of natural gas-fired generation, and can therefore potentially serve as a “fuel saver” alongside existing gas-fired generation (and can also provide a hedge against possible future increases in fuel prices).
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