Recent market developments suggest that "costcompetitiveness" may not be necessary for market success of renewable energy, including utility-scale photovoltaic systems. "Green" electricity-electricity seen by consumers as less environmentally damaging-is emerging as a product distinct from traditional "brown" electricity. Electricity providers are successfully selling "green" electricity, although it costs more than the default system electricity. Over one-fourth of all U.S. electricity users now have access to green electricity, and it also available or planned in Canada, Australia, Sweden, the U.M. and elsewhere. 74 MW of new renewable capacity has been installed in the U.S. to meet the demand for green electricity, and another 71 MW are planned. Several green electricity programs use PVs to supply some or all of their green capacity. This surprisingly robust demand for PV-based electricity will accelerate the implementation of utility-scale PV generation.
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