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Bright Future: Solar Power as a Major Contributor to the U.S. Grid
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2013
Year
EngineeringRenewable ResourcesBright FuturePhotovoltaic SystemPhotovoltaic Power StationPhotovoltaicsSolar DeploymentSolar WindSolar Energy UtilisationMajor ContributorSolar PowerEnergy ResourcesSolar Physics (Solar Energy Conversion)Solar TechnologiesCommunity SolarSolar Energy PolicySustainable EnergyEnergy TransitionEnergy PolicyRooftop PhotovoltaicsU.s. Electricity GridEnergy Economics
The decreased costs of solar technologies have led to the prospect of a move for photovoltaic (PV ) and concentrating solar power (CSP ) from niche applications to major contributors to the U.S. electricity grid. This development has motivated a number of technoeconomic analyses of the potential deployment of both PV and CSP under varying economic conditions. Two studies sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE ) and completed in 2012 can help us understand the potential opportunities and challenges for solar deployment on a large scale. These studies evaluated both the potential mix of renewable energy technologies that could serve a large fraction of the U.S. electricity demand and the associated evolution of the U.S. grid to 2050.