This paper analyses the economics of grid-connected photovoltaic systems. With the 2003 cost of photovoltaic systems, under prevailing capital market conditions, with a system lifetime of 30 years, and under the best climatic conditions, it appears that the cost of production of grid-connected electricity could be of 0.21 US $/kWh, and under medium climatic conditions, European locations, Switzerland, Japan and South Korean could be of 0.28$/kWh. If the lifetime if the system goes up, due to future technological improvements, to a very large value such as 50 years, these costs can be lowered by 10-20%. Competitiveness of grid-connected photovoltaic electricity, while it still cannot be taken for granted, is a possibility, especially if major technological advances further lowers the costs of photo cells and increases their lifetimes.