First Solar claims its solar energy technology will be competitive with fossil fuels without government subsidies by 2016, reports Bloomberg. We suppose “competitive” ought to be circumscribed with the qualifier “at least for a few hours on sunny days.”
So let them start production in 2016.
I guess “competitive with fossil fuels without government subsidies” means in full formulation
“competitive with fossile fuels, without government subsidies for solar power, but with unequal burdens laid by the government on fossil fuels”
2016: “Due to the unexpected shortage and increased price of rare earth materials, we will not be fully competitive until 2025.”