Solar Power Gains Cost Advantage Over Nuclear

Solar photovoltaic systems have long been painted as a clean way to generate electricity, but expensive compared with other alternatives to oil, like nuclear power. No longer. In a “historic crossover,” the costs of solar photovoltaic systems have declined to the point where they are lower than the rising projected costs of new nuclear plants, according to a paper published this month.

“Solar photovoltaics have joined the ranks of lower-cost alternatives to new nuclear plants,” John O. Blackburn, a professor of economics at Duke University, in North Carolina, and Sam Cunningham, a graduate student, wrote in the paper, “Solar and Nuclear Costs — The Historic Crossover.” http://www.ncwarn.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/NCW-SolarReport_final1.pdf

By DIANA S. POWERS

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/business/global/27iht-renuke.html?_r=2&src=busln