Cost of solar power may equal to that of conventional energy by 2014: Study

If India’s conventional power sector, particularly coal-based thermal power projects, has found itself squarely stuck under the long shadow of governmental inefficiencies and suspect allocation mechanisms, there is a drastically different story unfolding in the country’s solar energy sector. The rising cost of conventional power, largely driven by increasing raw material exports and the growing cost of establishing greenfield projects, alongside a steady decline in solar power prices — mostly a function of a sharp reduction in the prices of solar photo voltaic (PV) modules — could result in solar projects reaching grid parity by 2014, a new study by KPMG has suggested.