Current Photovoltaic Research ISSN:2288-3274(Print) 2508-125X(Online)

The Korean electric power supply plan was prepared by greatly enhancing the environmental and safety with considering the economical efficiency of the electric equipment, the impact on the environment and the public safety. As a result, the fossil energy-based power generation sector is accelerating the paradigm shift to eco-friendly energy such as solar power and wind. Also the solar power industry is expected to grow into a super large-sized industry by converging the energy storage and electric vehicle industry. Generally, a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is used to calculate the power generation cost for different generation power generation efficiency, operating cost, and life span. In this paper, we have studied the future research and development direction of photovoltaic technology development for the era of massive utilization of photovoltaic solar power, and have studied the LCOE of major countries including China, USA, Germany, Japan and Korea. Finally we have reviewed USA and Japan research programs to reduce the LCOE.