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==Analysis==Photovoltaic power is electricity generated production has been doubling every 2 years, increasing by photovoltaic or "solar" cellsan average of 48 percent each year since 2002, which convert light energy from making it the sun into electrical world’s fastest-growing energytechnology.<ref name="wiki">Robert Krupp, [http://enwww.wikipediasocialfunds.orgcom/news/wikiarticle.cgi/Solar_cell 2639.html "Solar Cell WikkiExpected to Maintain its Status as the World's Fastest-Growing Energy Technology"]Solar Funds, March 03, Wikkipedia accessed September 2009.</ref> Solar cells have come a long wayAt the end of 2008, both in efficiency and costthe cumulative global PV installations reached 15,200 megawatts.<ref name="masdar">[http://www.reutersren21.comnet/articlepdf/pressReleaseRE_GSR_2009_update.pdf "REN21: Renewables Global Status Report: 2009 Update"] 2009 Report.</idUS79707+21ref> Roughly 90% of this generating capacity consists of grid-Augtied electrical systems. Solar PV power stations today have capacities ranging from 10-2008+PRN20080821 Masdar Press Release]60 MW although proposed solar PV power stations will have a capacity of 150 MW or more.<ref name="mj"/> Driven by advances in technology and increases in manufacturing scale and sophistication, the cost of photovoltaics has declined steadily since the first solar cells were manufactured.<ref>Richard M. Swanson, "Photovoltaics Power Up," Science, Reuters Media ReleaseVol. 324, August 2115 May 2009, 2008p. 891.</ref>  Net metering and are an increasingly viable and common way to offset financial incentives, such as preferential feed-in tariffs for solar-generated electricity use, both domestic and commercialhave supported solar PV installations in countries such as Germany.<ref name="Reuters">[http://www.reuterssolarbuzz.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE52J5VW20090320 US Installed BaseFastFactsGermany.htm "Fast Facts Germany"]SolarBuzz," Reuters, March 20, 2009accessed May 2010.</ref>  ==Storage==The key drawback in solar energy generation is that when the sun goes down, there is no new energy created. As such, its use is dependent on storage of energy for use during the night. However, as one article points out, its electricity production maximizes at under the same conditions that tend to overtax powergrids; hot sunny days. <ref name ="Reuters"/>. A number of storage options have also been implemented or suggested, ranging from high capacity electric batteries, to compressed air storage to use to turn turbines, to hydrogen generation for use in fuel cells. <ref name="SciAm">[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-solar-grand-plan A Grand Solar Plan], ''Scientific American,'' December 2007.

Another key benefit of solar panels is that they can be installed with little to no impact on their environment, making them ideal for on-site energy generation, reducing losses incurred in transportation of energy.==Cost==Currently, coal power is seen as cheaper than cleaner or more renewable sources of powerlike solar. The Standard and Poore Poors chart cited in "The War on Coal: Think Outside the Khosla Venture (CoalKV) Pits"<ref name="KhoVen"> 's [[http://www.khoslaventures.com/presentations/CoalThinkOutsidethePits.pdf "The War on Coal: Think Outside the (Coal) Pits,Report"], Khosla Ventures, 2007 (PDF file).</ref> lists the average baseline cost for pulverized coal at 5.8 cents per kilowatt hour (c/kwh), or the more realistic cost of coal power generated from [[Powder River Basin ]] (PRB) coal, a coal which usually has fewer contaminants and therefore somewhat bypasses the sulfur caps on coal-fired generation, is priced at 6.8 c/kwh. By comparison, the same chart lists wind at 7.1 c/kwh (while noting shortages and energy transportation factors are not included) and concentrated solar (CSP) at between 7 and 11 c/kwh. The <ref name="KhoVen"> [http://www.khoslaventures.com/presentations/CoalThinkOutsidethePits.pdf The War on Coal: Think Outside the (Coal) Pits"], Khosla Ventures, 2007 (PDF file).</ref name= "KhoVen"/> paper The KV report goes on to suggest that the price of coal-fired power is going up due to a variety of reasons and is poised to do so even further, perhaps cataclysmically so. Further, the House and Senate have been hammering out bills due to pending legislation to reduce carbon emissions from power generation, and even energy execs expect at least a carbon cap trading system to be in place within a few years. This The report calculates that this alone is likely, even in the more moderate estimates, to drive the cost of coal generation to be within the same range as renewables: 7.9 c/kwh for pulverized coal, 8.4 c/kwh with Powder River Basin coal according to the same S&P chart.<ref name="KhoVen"/>. Meanwhile, as renewable energy markets expand, the setup associated costs will go down as both technology becomes more available and established plants pay off their initial costs, meaning that the price for renewable power is only going to go down.{{fact}}