Even though you have some selfcriticism please remember that 1MW of Solar PV is not equal to 1MW of Coal. A Coal fired Power station will easily be able to run > 5,000 hours a year (out of 8,760) while a Solar PV installation only works 800-1,000 hours per year in Central Europe (eg Germany), 1,500 hours in Spain and > 1,500 in sunny regions in the Middle East and parts of the US (eg California). Furthermore PV is intermittent and requires extra investments to the electricity distribution and transmission grid, and also back-up power (eg gas CCGT) or batteries (non existent yet). So even at US$ 1,000 /kW for both installations you need to take into account the operating hours. US$ 1,000/kW will also be the full capex of a coal fired stations, while for PV Solar this is the module cost. Retail projects will easily go to US$ 4,000 kW and larger installations should be able to move to US$ 2,000-3,000 per kW. And yes you need to take into account fuel costs, labor, higher financial costs, higher requred returns, O&M, price for CO2 (in Europe) .... but the operating hours are still more than compenstating for that. I would even propose to make a comparison with a CCGT (gas) plant since in the US shale gas fracking results in very cheap gas prices (US$ 3-4/MMBTU) while the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has put in stricter rules for mercury, which will effect the competitiveness of coal plants (extra capex for those running). http://energiek.wordpress.com/