Why would the use of solar cells be more likely in a developing country than in a developed country?

Question

Why would the use of solar cells be more likely in a developing country than in a developed country?

Answer 1

Developed countries have access to cheap energy supplied by an established electrical grid (which is in turn supplied by large power plants). In this situation, the price of a solar cell can be more expensive than just using energy from coal, hydro, or other more traditional energy sources.

Many developing countries don't have an established electrical grid and cannot afford a large power plant. Solar panels can then be utilized to provide small scale electrical power.

Answer 2

Developed countries are often more restricted by monopolistic   industrial bases.

Developing countries are trying every thing they can to improve their country.

The people who rule developed countries hate progress. It eats into profits.

Answer 3

the folks with the answers about establishing a grid have it right......you see exactly the same thing with the explosion of cell phones in the third world.....why pay to run a zillion phone poles and a piece of wire into EVERY SINGLE BUILDING in a country ......just think of how many hundreds of thousands of MILES of copper or fiber optic you're talking about........when you can just put up a cell tower every 10 miles and let everyone carry a cell with them?

Answer 4

Solar cells are more cost effective on a small scale when you will only be using the power generated to operate a few specific items than to power an entire home.  Western society is too used to having powered appliances to want to give them up to go solar.  The number of panels needed to completely power a home to Western standards would be huge.  

Developing countries can use a few panels to power refrigeration or lights for a few hours a day on an individual or small village basis and be happy.  Most of us would go into shock if we couldn't have lights or a cold beer anytime we wanted one.

Answer 5

A lot of developing countries (think anywhere in Sub-Saharan Africa) don't have much electircal infrastructure like countries like the US do, so it's cheaper to put up a few solar panels on a building to give it power than to build a coal fired power plant and connect an entire city to the grid.