Solar power for the cost of coal???

[Scrooge McSam]

Nanosolar says they can do it.

From New York Times article...

Nanosolar’s founder and chief executive, Martin Roscheisen, claims to be the first solar panel manufacturer to be able to profitably sell solar panels for less than $1 a watt. That is the price at which solar energy becomes less expensive than coal.

“With a $1-per-watt panel,” he said, “it is possible to build $2-per-watt systems.”

According to the Energy Department, building a new coal plant costs about $2.1 a watt, plus the cost of fuel and emissions, he said.

They've redesigned the entire manufacturing process. No more piecing together individual cells. They're printing the circuitry directly onto the substrate.

The company, which has raised $150 million and built a 200,000-square-foot factory here, is developing a new manufacturing process that “prints” photovoltaic material on aluminum backing, a process the company says will reduce the manufacturing cost of the basic photovoltaic module by more than 80 percent.

The Nanosolar website has lots of into on the process. Also says their entire output for the next year is already sold (dammit).

Check em out