[Tennessean4Bush]

Cool stuff but that is still 3x the normal retail rate. Really? So the retail rate is 10 cents per watt? (excuse my ignorance)

[Squawk 8888]

The figure I saw for a solar/wind installation for a home was roughly $10/watt which included the regulator and battery bank. This material would probably reduce that by a couple of dollars per watt and in some regions could out-compete wind turbines. In northern regions wind is still needed in the mix due to the reduced daylight.

[texas booster]

The article does not mention an accounting feasibility study, so we are left with their marketing dept estimate of 30 cents per watt for the capital costs of the cells.

Current retail cost for residential electricity if between 7 cents and 16 cents per kWh.

There is no practical way to compare these two numbers. Solar is spotty in its current draw verses an always on power plant.

[cicero2k]

Cool stuff but that is still 3x the normal retail rate. Really? So the retail rate is 10 cents per watt? (excuse my ignorance) They mean that it is $.30 capital cost per watt, or $300 per KW; compared to $1000 for a coal plant (plus you have to buy the coal and maintain equipment). So if this $300 number can be reached, it changes everything. First peak loads for power generation are reduced, then hybrid vehicles where the sun recharges batteries, not the primary motor, adopted on truck trailers. Then electric to hydrogen generation for vehicle fuel cells. Finally commercial scale solar to hydrogen to hydrocarbon where the carbon is pulled from atmospheric CO2; and vehicle fuel, aviation especially; is the output. Therefore a carbon neutral process. On the other hand, the CO2 issue may be a straw dog; and Popular Science is good at touting technologies that never come to fruition. C2K