A recent article in (Reuters) reports that Japan’s Sharp Corp., the world’s biggest maker of solar cells, expects the cost of generating solar power to halve by 2010 and to be comparable with that of nuclear power by 2030, Sharp’s president said,
"By the year 2010 we’ll be able to halve generation costs," Katsuhiko Machida told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. "By 2020 we expect a further reduction — half of 2010 — and by 2030 we expect half the 2020 level.
"By 2030 the cost will be comparable to electricity produced by a nuclear power plant," said Machida, speaking on the fringes of the IFA trade fair in Berlin, the world’s biggest consumer electronics fair.
The article cites as reasons for Sharp’s optimism an expected ease by 2008 on a shortage of solar-grade silicon as silicon makers step up production to catch up with soaring demand and Sharp’s technological advances toward producing more so-called thin-film solar panels, which use less silicon.
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Via(treehugger), Via(Reuters)
