A series of reports from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) show renewable power generation, including wind and solar PV, is becoming increasingly competitive and now accounts for half of all new electricity generation capacity additions worldwide.
One of a series of analyses released by IRENA at its Council meeting in Abu Dhabi states crystalline solar panel costs have plummeted 60 per cent in the last two years and cumulative installed capacity for solar PV grew by over 70 per cent in 2011. IRENA says if this growth maintained or increased, further cost reductions will occur.
In 2011, Germany had the lowest installed PV system costs in the small-scale home solar power market, averaging $USD 3.80/Watt before subsidies for crystalline silicon solar panel based systems. In Italy, Spain, Portugal and the United States the average installed cost in 2011 before subsidies was between USD 5.7 to USD 5.8/W.
While thin-film solar panel based utility-scale systems are often perceived to cost far less than facilities consisting of crystalline silicon modules, this is not always the case. Thin-film utility-scale systems had an average installed cost of around USD 3.9/W in 2010, not much less than the average cost of a residential solar power systems in Germany the following year.
In regard to wind power, IRENA states onshore wind has become highly competitive, with the cost of electricity from prime sites in North America in the range of USD 0.04-0.05/kWh in 2010. The organisation says this is competitive with or cheaper than gas-fired generation and has been achieved despite wind turbine costs being 50-60 per cent cheaper in China than in North America.
The study results were part of five new reports released by IRENA:
Renewable Energy Cost Analyses:
- Wind Power
- Solar Photovoltaics
- Hydropower
- Concentrating Solar Power
- Biomass for Power Generation
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to renewable energy. As of May this year, the membership of IRENA comprised 158 States.
