GE recently announced it had improved the efficiency of thin-film solar panels by a record 12.8 percent, making subsidies no longer necessary. Meanwhile, the cost of solar cells has fallen 21 percent this year, so that in the sunny areas like California, the cost of solar power is about the same as what utilities charge for conventional power.
Eventually, the new solar panels would be part of a “smart grid,” controlled by millions of next-generation meters in businesses and homes that govern electricity flow and adjust energy use when prices change.
Read the Bloomberg report on solar power.
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