There are no sustainable energy sources/cost

About

One form of the argument that there are no sustainable energy sources focuses on the cost of sustainable energy, claiming that (for example) the total cost per unit of electricity produced by solar cells is substantially more than that from fossil-fuel power over the lifetime of the cell.^{2013-04-18/SA}

Flaws

This claim is simply wrong; investment in a solar cell system generally pays back in reduced costs after a period of several years; after that, the energy is effectively free for the remaining life of the hardware, which is generally two or three decades. ^{2008-02-28/DK}

Costs are also continuing to drop dramatically due to the accelerating pace of research.^{2013-05-14/RMI}

Sources

• 2013-05-14/RMI. As Solar PV Efficiency Climbs, Costs Likely To Drop: a report on recent developments in solar cell technology
• 2013-04-18/SA. The Solar Cell That Turns 1 Photon into 2 Electrons: the first commenter makes the claim that "the total cost per unit of electricity produced, without significant government subsidies, is usually substantially less than the production and installation costs of the solar voltaic panels." In the next comment, he corrects this: "Oops! I meant of course that the total cost per unit of electricity produced is substantially more than that from conventional, dirty power, over the lifetime of the PVP."
• 2008-02-28/DK. Lifecycle Costs of Photovoltaics "The estimated energy payback time (EPBT) for PV ranges from 6 years to 1.1 years, depending upon the type of PV, the insolation, and the installation. PV panels are usually rated to have a lifetime of 25 to 30 years."