this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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How do you even compare something that generates energy for decades and can then be recycled and generate energy for further decades vs something that you use once and then it’s gone forever?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levelized_cost_of_electricity
calculate total costs of power plant + fuels over the power plant's lifetime, divide by total kWh produced --> that gives you the average cost per kWh.
it is key here to see that even if solar panels produce energy over and over again, they still have a finite lifetime so they only produce a finite amount of energy per panel. so you can still calculate the cost per kWh by dividing panel cost by total kWh produced. the result then is non-zero because total kWh produced is not infinite.
By price, obviously!
/s (but a little bit not /s?)
I mean, sure, but it’s comparing $ per kWh vs $ per kW
Edit: To be clear, I do understand that consumer pricing is kWh across the board. My point is that the producer side for solar doesn’t actually scale per hour the way it does for fossil fuels. So while $/kWh is a convenient metric to shove renewables into the existing market, it kinda stacks the deck in favor of fossil fuels.
(Total cost of install + total expected maintenance + fuel costs) / expected lifespan
Then divide that by kwh or mwh or GWh expected to be produced during that lifespan
The catch is that solar is outliving the expected lifespan estimated and warranty periods which means things still tilt towards legacy fuels (doesn't tip enough in their favor to make them less expensive though)