Watson A.Name \"Watt Sun - the Dark Remover\" wrote:
Anthony Matonak wrote:

Fred B. McGalliard wrote:
Sorry Anthony, but I think this is quite wrong. Solar PV requires a very
large infrastructure to build, and a substantial infrastructure to
maintain.

I don't know about that. Solar PV can be used in any size from digital
watches to powering hotels. [snip]

The point is not whether or not they can be used, but whether or not
they can be used economically and profitably.

Oh, if that was the point then it's already been decided. Right now,
solar PV is not economical or profitable except in niche applications
not connected to the grid. Tomorrow... who knows? It does seem to be
getting cheaper all the time.

This, of course, has nothing to do with the question of "Is the
profitable use of solar PV limited to big mega-corporations?"

If we go back a couple of articles in this thread...

KR Williams wrote:
In article , box
says...
KR Williams wrote:

My guess though, is that solar cells for the individual will
never become cheaper than power from the grid, since the power
company has access to the same technology and a *lot* better
financing possibilities. ...and they don't have to have the pay-
back in my lifetime.

They have access to the tech, BUT, they also have to maintain the
distribution system. ...
All this is avoided cost on home solar.

There is still a huge advantage of scale.

Some technologies simply can not be affordably implemented on a small
homeowner scale and for them to be used you need a big company or co-op.
Solar PV is not in that category. The example of a solar powered radio
shows this. It does not require huge resources to build, buy or
maintain. The basic idea is that when it comes to solar PV installations
there really isn't much advantage of scale. A huge installation will
cost only slightly less per watt as a smaller one.

Anthony