The relentless pursuit of technical improvements has brought solar and wind power prices down enough to compete with conventional energy-generation technologies in many markets.
Wind tends to blow more forcefully and uniformly over the ocean than on land, providing the potential for increased electricity generation and smoother, steadier operation than land-based wind power systems.
Abundant, relatively low-priced supplies now make natural gas a highly competitive alternative to both nuclear and wind power and even to coal generation.
Explosive growth of more than 40% this year--3, 400 megawatts of new generation is expected--could make the U.S. the world's largest wind-power market, a new report shows.