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by pliny 3576 days ago
They are the same.

If energy is the only input to making a solar cell (the worst case) and the cell costs x Wh then the market price can't go below x * ($/Wh), so it pays back when you produced x Wh (thus not buying x Wh from the coal burning power plant) and any energy you produce is both profit for you, and also less total demand for coal energy.