U.S. Grid-connected PV shines despite cost

摘要

According to some estimates, there is more than 1 gigawatt of photovoltaic (PV) power currently operating in the world, with over 350 MW added in the past year. Much of that power is being used―as it has been for decades―as a distributed generation resource independent of the power grid. It is deployed near its point of use, often at remote locations that are too difficult or expensive to serve with grid power. However, widespread adoption of PV in the developed world will involve grid connection, where PV backs up or supplements standard grid power. In recent years, grid-connected PV applications, in fact, have been growing far faster than the off-grid market. Today some industry observers estimate that grid-connected PV represents about half of current sales. While the off-grid market continues to grow at 15-20 percent per year, the grid-connected market has been expanding at over 30 percent per year.