Solar Power to save money in China

OSAKA The cost of power generation will go down substantially by 2010 if a solar power generation device is set up in the Chinese part of the Gobi Desert, a study group affiliated with a Japanese semi-governmental organization said recently.

According to a report compiled by the group under the auspices of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the cost of power generation in China will decline to 7 yen per 1 kilowatt hour from the current 20 yen if solar battery panels are installed in 2 square kilometers of the Chinese desert.

It is said that solar power generation could provide 18 times as much primary energy as that of a 1995 figure if solar panels were to be placed in half of the total deserts globally.

The study group said the cost of solar battery panels is also expected to decline to 100-150 yen per 1 watt by 2010, helping cut the cost of solar power generation as well.

If solar power generation is promoted together with irrigation and further agricultural development, it will help prevent "global desertification," a NEDO researcher said.

Kyodo News