Solar prices have plummeted, and that use case can skip storage issues (just run when there's power available). Obviously land, labor, and infra cost are not so simple.
As a consumer, falling solar prices have not led to a noticeable decrease in my electrical bill.
As a recent convert to solar, we no longer have any electric bill, period.
They haven't tried to bill you for "maintaining the grid" cost?
No, but hopefully they do soon, or tax me somehow. Having a grid is important.
What do you think the price would be without solar? The answer: higher.
sure, but only because they purposely exclude those that would be cheaper :)
At some point the price of the bill is dominated by the fixed transmission costs which won't go away as long as there is a power grid.
If you use solar to generate electricity then the cost of that electricity is whatever you’re missing out on by not selling it to the grid.
On the other hand, you could have a system that pumps out water or power, depending on current needs and market.
grid-connected solar generation often gets “curtailed” on very sunny days, so it’s market value is $0. On those days, desalinate.
Desal plants need to be running constantly and incur untennable startup costs otherwise, if I am not mistaken. Perhaps state of the art has fixed that issue.