Making Photovoltaic Power Competitive with Grid Power

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are currently too expensive to compete with grid power. After discussing the cost breakdown of currently available PV technology, we analyze the retail prices of PV necessary to become competitive with grid-power in various geographic and economic scenarios. We also address to what extents a tax on carbon emissions as well as inherent cost reductions in PV may influence and achieve PV's competitiveness with grid-power. The analyses focus on the US, but may be suitably extended to other locations