10% solar electricity in the US by 2025

Feasible if all stakeholders actively co-operate

A new study by Clean Edge concludes that generating 10% of the electricity consumed in the US with solar energy by 2025 is a feasible target. The Utility Solar Assessment (USA) Study has presented utilities, solar companies, and regulators a roadmap of how to reach this target.

Today, solar energy in the US contributes a mere 0.06% of all power generated. Reaching 10% by 2025 would require an active and co-ordinated effort on the part of all stakeholders. The following are the main action points mentioned in the report:

• Utilities should take advantage of solar energy’s ability to generate peak power, and they should implement solar energy as a key element in the build-out of the smart grid
• Solar companies need to bring the cost of a solar installation down to $3 per watt peak by 2018
• Regulators and policy makers should continue the current system of tax credits for solar energy for the foreseeable future

Massive investments required

Such a coordinated effort would have to be combined with massive investments. Clean Edge has calculated the required investment to be between $26 and $33 billion annually from now until 2025. To put these figures into perspective: the total investment in new power plants, transmission lines, and distribution lines in the US in 2007 was $70 billion.

An investment of this magnitude is not as high a risk as it may at first appear, since solar energy is expected to achieve grid parity soon. When that point is reached, solar energy will become inherently profitable, even without tax credits. Clean Edge estimates that for large parts of the US, grid parity will arrive around 2015. Grid parity has already been reached in some parts of California.

References

• Introduction to the report 'Utility Solar Assessment (USA) Study' on the Clean Edge website
• Article 'Grid parity for solar power is approaching' on this blog