How high does a barrel of oil have to go before solar power is cheaper than using fossil fuels?

Question

How high does a barrel of oil have to go before solar power is cheaper than using fossil fuels?

Answer 1

good freaking question mann

Answer 2

Nothing concretely being done today to control oil prices.Steps should be taken to bring down the demand so that the price will go down.Using solar power is one solution especially in the area of low power generation.Use of ocean waves, wind energy, nuclear energy, Mass transportation, fuel cells, electric batteries etc... There is lot more ways to bring down the prices.It is not clear whether the inaction is due to the power of oil barons or the apathy of the users who are willing to pay any price for the oil.

Answer 3

A lot higher.

Oil is only one piece in the puzzle of oil-based fuel prices. Taxes, environmental controls, speculation and trading, labor, delivery costs, and retailer profit all play a part.

It's likely that a falling price for solar power would occur before an excessive oil price.

Answer 4

Solar is already competitive in many applications.  However, start-up costs (capital costs) tend to be a lot higher at present for solar, but over the lifetime of a given installation the combined capital plus operating costs are lower in many circumstances. (thus, if you are willing to pay more up front, you will have saved money after some years of use)

Also, people tend to use what they are familiar with.  For individuals to use solar often requires a much better investment return simply because there is a perceived risk associated with the unknown, or to them unproven, technology.

As more and more installations are put into use, the capital costs will go down because of economies of scale on the production side of things. and because people will be more willing to use the alternative technology once they see that it works pretty well.

Still many issues related to the use of solar for driving, for transport.  (direct solar for this purpose seems unlikely for obvious reasons, but using solar to generate portable energy-electricity or hydrogen, or something) will have to come into play eventually.

Answer 5

solar is already cheaper if you factor life span.

the apparatus should not wear out apart from batteries eventually having to be replaced. In this case, if you use it long enough, it will eventually pay for itself and your power is "free" from then on...

Answer 6

it depends how much energy you use.  i say go solar because it's soooo much better for the enviornment and it's less expensive in the long run.  get solar panels before the price skyrockets even more due to the green movement

Answer 7

i think it will cost higher day after day. sooo dont start your car use public transport and stop cars production. it will reduce traffic jam and air pollution.

Answer 8

If you mean solar electricity.... I don't know for sure, but will it ever ?

My understanding was that solar cells actually require more power to manufacture than they will ever generate, that's why at present at least they are not regarded as particularly 'green' .

If this is so, than as the cost of fossil fuels goes up the cost of manufacturing solar cells goes up ..I'm not sure there's a point where the two lines on the graph ever cross over

However, I totally agree that more should be spent looking into all forms of energy production wind, tide, geothermal, and solar heating of domestic water.

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Edit

There are some very spurious maths being touted around here !  But no matter.... did see this article which is interesting though.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/20...

Answer 9

i think it has to run out before the idiots in power do something constructive with their careers...

Answer 10

That's a basic premise of economics, to determine the break-even point.  You need to compare the fixed cost of purchase and the variable costs of operation.

Let's compare a 1000 watt gas powered generator and a 1000 watt solar panel.  A solar panel of that size is going to cost around $5000, so about $5 per watt.  A gas powered generator will cost around $500, so $0.50/watt. However the solar panel will have zero fuel cost, and the gas generator will cost around $4 per hour, or kilowatt hour, in fuel costs.

Now its just a matter of math.  At current fuel prices, that means you would have to run the generator for just over 1,000 hours to break even.  

Of course there are small diesel generators that are more fuel efficient than a small gas generator, but the purchase price will be higher.  Increasing the capacity of both power sources will reduce the cost per kwh, but a solar panel will never be cheaper for the first kwh.  As oil prices increase, there is no doubt that solar power (and other alternatives like nuclear, wind, biomass, and tidal) will become more cost competitive.  From a purely economic perspective, I doubt that oil will ever get so high to preclude oil-powered electricity because of the relatively low capital cost offered by gas/oil/diesel generators.

Other things to consider are that huge amounts of oil are used in the manufacture of everything we use - including solar panels, and solar panels can not provide firm electricity.