Solar PV
Solar PV is the most popular form of renewable electricity generation. The costs for solar PV have dropped significantly over the past decade, but still average $1.50 to $2.50 per Watt.
The biggest advantage of solar PV is there is essentially no operating or maintenance costs and generate power for 15 to 25 years. The power generated is emissions free.
There are certainly disadvantages with solar PV – the biggest being the inability to predict how much power is generated and when.
Further, solar PV is non-dispatchable and is weather dependent – meaning the power must be consumed or stored as its generated or it is lost.
Further, solar PV array require a large amount of space for any significant volume of power and energy.
The efficiency at which PV cells convert sunlight to electricity varies by the type of semiconductor material and PV cell technology. The efficiency of commercially available PV panels averaged less than 10% in the mid-1980s, increased to around 15% by 2015, and is now approaching 25% for state-of-the art modules. Experimental PV cells and PV cells for niche markets, such as space satellites, have achieved nearly 50% efficiency.