Posts Tagged ‘solar power’

Make Most of Solar Energy

Published by fnever on August 28th, 2012 - in Knowledge Base

Article by Trish Smith

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The price of throughout 2011 was put at .80, this was uncovered by a research during March 2012. that the cost of in 2011 was more or less .80. Besides that these investigators believed that by end of this year, the costs will shrink more to .50 for each . Because the Pv systems don’t fossil fuels thus often the life of such Solar units can last 25 to 40 years. The multinational seminar over Solar Photovoltaic Investments, set up by EPIA, has guessed that Photovoltaic systems may pay back individuals getting it in 8 to 12 years. For that reason, since ’06 it is actually cheap for investors to photovoltaics at no cost in exchange for an extended term energy purchase agreement. Around 50 % of commercial systems had been installed in this fashion in 2007 and it is expected that 90% can by ’09.

The entire expense for installation of has fallen below that of nuclear energy and is set to drop further. The actual retailer rate of solar panels that is perceived by the Solar energy buzz group reduced from .50/watt to .43/watt over the course of ’11, and a decline to prices below .00/watt appears inevitable. When it comes to a bigger-size setups, costs lower than .00/watt are in fact common. In most areas, solar units has hit parity to grid, the price at which it is contending with fossil fuel or gas powered technology. At the same time, it’s now certain that, owing to a carbon pricing of /ton, which might raise the rate of fossil fuel fired electricity by 5c/kWh, solar power shall be inexpensive in most areas. The falling rate of solar energy is indicated in exponentially expanding installations, adding up to nearly 23 GW in 2011.At the same time, governments have prepared different capital concessions to support the use of solar power, like feed-in tariff schemes. Moreover, Renewable portfolio benchmarks enforce a government mandate that power providers manufacture or purchase a certain portion of environment-friendly electricity in spite of inflated energy buying rates. Recently, non-rebated solar energy is indeed competitively priced with fossil fuels in India, Hawaii, Italy and Spain. It’s no more a lavishness of the affluent and is currently contending in the actual life with no subsidies. Solar power is going to compete without concessions against normal energy resources in almost all the nations by 2015.Australian government has announced subsidy for homeowners, establishments and communities known as “Solar Credits” to cut down the cost associated in having solar panels. It was passed into law on 20th August 2009, however the rules continuously modify the of the rebate frequently decreasing it with quite small notification timeperiod. Usually, basic price of a running 1.5kW solar power system may be approximately ,500 which is actually pricey, although since you enjoy government Rebate of ,000 it would in fact cost you almost ,500 for 1.5KW of installed system thus lessening the cost. This also aids in reducing the expense of this green electric energy.

Owing to escalating environmental pollution day-by-day, it is advisable to choose renewable resource of consistent power which would bring the smog levels down. Solar power is one such resource, neither does it release co2 nor any sound rather gives clean power and is acknowledged as the future of energy need.

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Want to find more about solar panel rebate then visit Trish Smith’s site and check for more information on solar power quotes to make the right choice.

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Is the Trend For Solar Power M&A Set to Continue?

Published by fnever on August 19th, 2012 - in Knowledge Base


New York, US (PRWEB) August 17, 2012

Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/P8vnEW

A new report from has revealed that solar mergers and acquisitions broke records in 2011 ? but is the trend set to continue?

The new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance, entitled the ?Solar Portfolio Hunters: Focus on Acquisition and Valuation of Solar Assets?, found that a total of 3.9MW in projects changed hands last year. The amount of solar capacity bought last year increased on 2010 levels by 122 percent.

The estimated value of these deals was a record-breaking $ 10.8 billion, while the top five deals in terms of their capacity took part in the US. This is despite much of the activity taking place in Europe, where governments have been trying to stem the increased flow of new solar projects coming on line.

Bloomberg?s report concluded that there were several factors prompting the increase in M&A deals within the industry. The attempts made by European government to slow down solar are certainly a factor that has led to growing M&A interest in the market. This has come about at the same time as natural consolidation that occurs after entrepreneurs have been holding onto an asset for a while.

Banks are also less willing to lend to start-ups looking to invest in the development of a solar energy project from scratch, but are more willing to help fund an M&A deal. This has all led to a general market trend for mergers and buyouts simply because there is less opportunity to start a brand new solar energy project.

Throughout 2011, investors found that solar photo-voltaic cell projects offered good returns on , if found at the right price. As a result, they have been actively acquiring them. A total of 2.8GW of the 3.9GW of solar energy projects bought during the period were already in operation or were under construction.

Buying up a photo-voltaic cell project that is either already in operation, is under construction or already permitted for development, is a low-risk strategy ? particularly in light of the fact that the prices of solar projects have fallen by 44 per cent from their peak four years ago.

Bloomberg’s new Energy Finance?s solar analyst, Pietro Radoia, attributed the lower prices to a combination of factors. He said, ?The subsidies for the average operating plant have become less generous, and therefore the potential revenues are reduced. Second, the financial crisis has pushed up the cost of debt and equity.?

As the price of buying solar projects comes down, so does the price of the energy they produce, making it a more realistic option for many domestic users. In turn, this has led to an increase in investment from venture-capitalists and investment funds, according to a report published by Mercom Capital group. The report found that in the second quarter of 2012 alone, some $ 3.2 billion has been invested by funds in solar-focused and cleantech projects.

Although investment in solar project M&A seems to have slowed slightly in 2012, there are still plenty of opportunities for investors who do want to try their hand at making money from solar energy. Raj Pabhu, a managing partner at Mercom, said, ?Most of the M&A activity [in Q2 2012] were small strategic transactions. In some cases acquisitions were of ?sick? companies getting rid of non-strategic business assets.?

With limited opportunity for new solar projects and a large number of firms looking to offload projects that they can no longer afford without subsidies, investing in solar power is expected to remain popular for some time.

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Merrill DataSite is a secure virtual data room (VDR) solution that optimizes the due diligence process by providing a highly efficient and secure method for sharing key business between multiple parties. Merrill DataSite provides unlimited access for users worldwide, as well as real-time activity reports, site-wide search at the document level, enhanced communications through the Q&A feature and superior project management service – all of which help reduce transaction time and expense. Merrill DataSite?s multilingual support staff is available from anywhere in the world, 24/7, and can have your VDR up and running with thousands of pages loaded within 24 hours or less.

With its deep roots in transaction and compliance services, Merrill Corporation has a cultural, organization-wide discipline in the management and processing of confidential content. Merrill DataSite is the first VDR provider to understand customer and industry needs by earning an ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certificate of registration ? the highest standard for information security ? and is currently the world?s only VDR certified for operations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Merrill DataSite?s ISO certification is available for review at http://www.datasite.com/security.htm.

As the leading provider of VDR solutions, Merrill DataSite has empowered nearly 2 million unique visitors to perform electronic due diligence on thousands of transaction totaling trillions of dollars in asset value. Merrill DataSite VDR solution has become an essential tool in an efficient and legally defensible process for completing multiple types of financial transactions.

For more information, please contact Merrill DataSite: Tel: 1-866-399-3770;

Email: info(at)datasite(dot)com;

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Which Is More Efficient Wind Or Solar Energy – How Efficient is Wind Energy?

Published by fnever on June 21st, 2012 - in Knowledge Base

Which Is More Efficient Wind Or

With fossil fuel prices rising and fear about global warming spreading, many people are looking for to help power their homes. This article provides on two types of renewable energy and explains alternative electric generation with and windmills.

is nothing new. of solar technologies began in the 1960′s as part of the space race between the United States and Russia as both countries were looking for ways to power satellites. The sun provides an enormous amount of energy, enough to exceed current global energy needs by nearly 1000 percent.

Unfortunately, the development of solar technology for the consumer market has been slow.

Currently, for home applications there are two types of solar energy set ups: off grid and on grid. Off grid systems are entirely self contained and not connected to local utility services. Extra power is stored in batteries which are activated at night or when cloud cover obscures the sun. Which Is More Efficient Wind Or Solar Energy

On grid systems are connected to the local utility grids and extra electricity generated by the system is fed into the local grid. This electricity is then credited to the costumer’s account and the consumer can still pull energy form the local grid.

Since solar panels are still generally too expensive to provide for all a home’s electricity needs, most home owners choose on grid systems.

Another option for green electricity that is available to homeowners is . works by using a wind to generate electricity from blowing wind. In many ways the concept is similar to the concept behind wind mills.

Unfortunately, wind turbines can be quite large, and as such are only suitable for people living on large properties. Furthermore, the turbine generally cannot fully power your house, so you will still have to stay connected to local power grids, but you will be able to cut your energy costs by up to 90%. Which Is More Efficient Wind Or Solar Energy

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Latest Solar Powered Iphone Charger

Published by fnever on June 19th, 2012 - in Knowledge Base

Muzatech charger is the latest device that will be attached to the bottom of your iphone. The Phone battery will be charged by solar .

device has four LED charging mode. It has 100mAh battery and this will be reacharged when left in sunlight.The iphone battery will be reacharged based on . The charger can be used up to 2000 charges.

This is available in 5 colors, such as black,silver,green,blue and white.

iphone charger is available at price of .95.

Read full story about solar iphone charger.

Muzatech iphone charger is the latest device that will be attached to the bottom of your iphone.

The Phone battery will be charged by .

Solar charger device has four LED charging mode. It has 100mAh battery and this will be reacharged when left in sunlight.The iphone battery will be reacharged based on lithium battery. The charger can be used up to 2000 charges.

This is available in 5 colors, such as black,silver,green,blue and white.

Solar powered iphone charger is available at price of .95.

Muzatech iphone charger is the latest device that will be attached to the bottom of your iphone. The Phone battery will be charged by solar power.

Solar charger device has four LED charging mode. It has 100mAh battery and this will be reacharged when left in sunlight.The iphone battery will be reacharged based on lithium battery. The charger can be used up to 2000 charges.

This is available in 5 colors, such as black,silver,green,blue and white.

Solar powered iphone charger is available at price of .95.

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What You Should Know About Solar Energy

Published by fnever on June 14th, 2012 - in Knowledge Base

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What You Should Know About – Business

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A lot of people have started to talk about the . Maybe you have been invited to associate in a business such as this or you may even be thinking of starting your own. Of course, there are a lot of popular notions about solar and they are all pretty good. It is very understandable or even expected, that a business-minded person like you would think of earning money while doing beneficial things for the world.

Solar energy has huge benefits for mankind. Most of us have already been educated on the good things that can bring about to the environment. For one, is renewable energy, energy that can replace energy resources that are being used right now. The source is also free as we would be using energy coming from the heat that our sun creates. Instead of focusing on finding oil and coal, or other sources of energy that will be used up soon, we focus on harnessing energy that is not going to run out anytime soon. Additionally, solar energy is more powerful than all of the other energy sources we can find in the world. With these in mind, it is doubtful that you will find anything more that is worth your while than being in the solar business.

There are many ways that you can be a part of the solar power movement. You can become an associate in an already up and running solar power company or you can start your own. Right now, there is a huge market for solar rentals both for commercial and residential purposes. In building your own solar business, you can start by becoming a more informed solar entrepreneur. Find out more about solar energy and building a business on it by reading about it through Solar Business Power Plan.

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John Peyton, author of this article is also interested in Solar Business and recommends you to please check out Solar Business Plan if you liked reading this .

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How Does Solar Power Work? – A Quick Overview

Published by fnever on May 22nd, 2012 - in Knowledge Base

If you’ve ever found yourself asking, “How does solar ,” there are really three main concepts you need to understand: how solar works, how other people use it, and how you can use it in your own .  In this article, I’ll touch on each of these concepts and you’ll come away with a better understanding of the solar is collected and used.

How Does Work?

is collected by photovoltaic (“photo-vol-tay-ick”) cells which are made (partially) of silicone, are installed in panels, and are placed in areas that receive a lot of direct sunshine– typically, a person’s roof.  When the sun beats down on these , negatively charged neutrons are dislodged from the silicone of each cell.  These neutrons are trapped by a magnetic field and then harvested by tiny wires in the silicone to form an electric current, which can then be put to productive use.  Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to live in a hot climate to be able to use solar power; you just have to be in an area that receives a good amount of sunshine.

How Do People Use Solar Power?

The same way they use any other electricity!  People use solar energy to power their entire homes from running their air conditioners and hot water heaters, to powering their light bulbs and major appliances.  If you generate more electricity than you use, you can actually get your electric meter to run backward, and the electric company will send you a check at the end of the month rather than a bill!

How Can You Use Solar Power In Your Own Home?

If you’re interested in installing and running your home on clean energy, you have two options: you can either hire a company to install a commercially made solar system, or you can build your own system.  Installing a commercial system is hassle-free– someone else does it for you!– and the cost greatly depends on how much electricity your household uses.  Typically, a commercial system costs between ,000 and ,000.  The cost of building your own system is much less– about 0.  The construction and installation of such a system takes about two days.

If you’ve ever wondered, “how does solar power work,” now you know.

And now that you understand more clearly how it works and how it’s put to use, you’re in a much better position to weigh the options available to you and make an informed decision on how to best incorporate it into your own home.

To learn how to build your own solar panels, visit http://www.GetSolarAndWindEnergy.com?q=howsolarworks

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Sullivan Solar Power Stands Up in Recent Statewide Net Metering Debate

Published by fnever on May 8th, 2012 - in Knowledge Base


San Diego, CA (PRWEB) May 07, 2012

The solar energy industry has come together to dispute the investor owned utility companies? efforts to destabilize the net metering law. This law, effective in its current form since 1998, has enabled over 100,000 to be connected to the grid. Various entities, including schools, businesses, water districts, and homeowners receive fair credit for the electricity their provide to the grid through net-metering.

However, the utilities are refuting a Public Utilities Proposed Decision which would require them to comply with the ?s directives. At is the cap, or number of systems that can be installed in California. Currently the law states that ratepayers are permitted to install systems under net-metering until such time that the amount of installed is equal to 5 percent of the sum of peak demand of each customer in a given utility territory. The utilities argue that the number of systems should be limited to only 5 percent of the utility?s peak demand. This slight difference in language would result in a halving of the amount of solar that could be deployed in the State. Should the utilities succeed in rebuking the and State on this issue, there will be a negative impact on solar employees, companies, and producers.

Dan Sullivan, president of San Diego-based solar company Sullivan Solar Power has recently entered the fray to oppose the utilities? unwillingness to comply with statute. Sullivan has ventured to San Francisco, most recently on May 3rd, to meet with the Public Utilities Commission and express his company?s concerns in person. As witnessed in similar cases it is rare for a local solar integrator to engage the Public Utilities Commission on issues. This is generally left to industry associations. However, Sullivan recognizes his actions as vital to ensure that his customers and employees will continue to benefit from the opportunities that solar energy has to offer.

?I can?t just sit back and watch all our hard come under fire for the benefit of the utilities. I have over 50 employees who depend on my company to support their families and I am not about to let them down by staying quiet. The State of California has aggressive and admirable renewable energy goals which will help move us towards a more sustainable future. If we allow the utilities to undermine the legislature by not adhering to the Net-metering rules, our goals will not be reached,? said Sullivan.

The solar community as a whole has rallied to encourage the Public Utilities Commission to compel the utilities to comply. Proponents of solar energy such as Vote Solar, CALSEIA (California Solar Energy Industries Association) and SEIA (Solar Energy Industries Association) are working hard to make the Commission aware of the severe impacts that the industry will face. To date, over 36,000 support letters have been sent to the CPUC encouraging the commissioners to enforce compliance with net-metering law.

?People care deeply about this issue. They want California to continue to go solar, and they agree that Californian?s should get fair credit for doing so,? said Annie Carmichael, Policy Director at the grassroots organization Vote Solar. ?We hope that state policymakers will listen to their constituents and ensure continued access to this energy bill-saving, job-creating backbone of California?s growing solar economy.?

Opponents of the large utilities are encouraged by the efforts of the community members paired with those of industry leaders such as Dan Sullivan. They understand that the efforts must continue to flourish in order to successfully overcome the large utilities stabs at the solar sector. While the debate rages on at the Commission to get the utilities to comply with the letter of the law, the utilities have introduced a new bill which would change the law for their benefit. To these propositions Sullivan adds, ?For most, when faced with the prospect of either adhering with the law or breaking it, they choose to adhere. With the utilities, they try to change the law rather than comply. I am hopeful both the legislature and Commission let the utilities know that times are changing. Solar is here to stay and they are going to have to live with it.?

About Sullivan Solar Power

Sullivan Solar Power is a turnkey solar system provider that delivers solar electric projects from to completion. The company has installed over 9,000,000 watts of solar power ranging from small-scale residential to large-scale commercial and municipal systems. Sullivan Solar Power is headquartered in San Diego, CA and owned and operated by Dan Sullivan. Sullivan Solar Power has a longstanding A-plus rating with the Better Business Bureau, with no complaints filed since the company began. The firm has been named one of the fastest growing energy companies in the nation by Inc. Magazine and services all of Southern California. Regardless of project size and scope, Sullivan is committed to delivering the best products and the most qualified professionals to its customers. Visit sullivansolarpower.com for more information.

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Modern Solar Extends Net Solar Feed-in Tariff as Government Rebates Wane

Published by fnever on May 6th, 2012 - in Knowledge Base


Australia (PRWEB) May 04, 2012

The solar provider is offering customers a premium price of 30 cents per kWh for any excess electricity exported back to the main grid.

South Australians will also receive a 44-cent rate from Modern, on top of the existing State Government FiT. All up, SA customers will be paid 60 cents for each kWh fed back into the power grid ? more than double the current average electricity price of 21 cents estimated by

This is good news for prospective solar customers, who have watched as many Government solar incentives have been reduced or abolished all over the country.

On a national level, the Solar Credits rebate is due to be cut by 33 per cent mid-year, sending customers scrambling to submit applications before the June 30 deadline.

Government solar feed-in tariffs in most states have been either scaled-back or closed completely.

The hugely popular NSW solar feed-in tariff ended in 2011, as did the WA FiT. Solar FiT schemes in Victoria and South Australia have both been substantially downsized in recent months.

Only Queenslanders can still qualify for the original FiT of 44 cents per kWh offered under the State Government?s Solar Bonus Scheme.

The QLD scheme ? introduced in 2008 ? has been extremely successful in encouraging Queenslanders to invest in . Indeed, according to a recent Clean Energy Council report, eight of the top 20 solar postcodes in Australia are located in the Sunshine State.

Modern advises NSW and SA customers considering solar to move swiftly to ensure they secure both the Modern solar feed-in tariff and the current Federal Solar Credit rebate. Solar rebates and incentives can result in savings of thousands of dollars on the cost of a solar power system.

SA and NSW customers interested in installing solar power to reduce their power bills and take advantage of Modern?s solar feed-in tariff can arrange an obligation-free quote by visiting http://www.modernsolar.com.au or calling 1300 302 427.







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Interesting Solar Energy Facts

Published by fnever on April 22nd, 2012 - in Knowledge Base

Article by William Bernard

It’s truly valuable for absolutely everyone to learn a few standard facts to ensure that they are able to truly appreciate the entire potential and numerous areas of applications for this plentiful energy resource. Solar is truly the most green and most desirable of all of the energy methods. At the present time yearly worldwide energy usage is in the range of roughly 550 exajoules (523 Quadrillion BTUs) per year. Each year earth’s atmosphere, oceans, and land masses absorb approximately 3,850,000 exajoules of energy produced by the sun. Once this is taken into account most people can begin to grasp exactly why the industry is earnestly trying to perfect techniques to collect . The Desertec foundation speculates that covering only 1% of desert areas throughout the planet with solar PV panels could power up the entire earth.

Listed below is a brief overview of historical solar energy facts:

- The human of isn’t new; many ancient civilizations have made of it in one manner or another. – Leonardo da Vinci was one of the first modern pioneers to conceive industrial usage of solar power to heat water.- The French scientist Edmond Becquerel discovered the photovoltaic effect while experimenting with electrolytic cells in 1839.- In 1894, Clarence Kemp, an inventor filed and attained a patent for the design of the world’s first solar powered water heater.- The world’s first solar thermal power plant was designed by Frank Shuman in 1913.The plant which was built in Egypt made of parabolic trough-shaped mirrors to be able to heat water in boilers to power a 65 horsepower engine. The engine pumped about 6,000 gallons of water per minute from the Nile River to nearby cotton fields.- The 1st modern photovoltaic (PV) cell was made at Bell Laboratories in the year 1954.

The following are some additional technical solar energy facts:

- Solar devices are generally one of two kinds, active and passive. Active solar power devices use PV cells and passive techniques are thermal based.- Solar PV systems are presently the most widespread energy conversion systems, which use solar cells in modules to convert sunlight directly into electrical energy.- Thermal based solar systems sometimes incorporate molten salts to store solar energy at high temperature due to their high specific heat properties.- The International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecasted that by the year 2060 about one third of our planet’s electricity demands likely will be created using solar energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic panels, water heaters and also solar power stations.- The Nokia 1610 plus was the first commercial solar powered mobile phone released by the Finnish company in 1997.

The following list is of significant solar installations throughout the planet:

- Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) is actually a group of nine solar power facilities situated within the Mojave Desert in California. SEGS maintains the classification of currently being the earth’s largest solar energy plant having a pooled generation potential of approximately 354 megawatts.- Typically big solar power plants rely upon photovoltaic panels for electric power generation, for the reason that they are currently a lot more cost effective when utilized on a larger scale. The world’s highest capacity photovoltaic power facility is found in Sarnia, Canada, which provides a generation potential of 97 megawatts.- The Andasol facility in Spain having an energy output of 250 megawatts is the 2nd biggest solar electrical power station in the entire world.- The world’s biggest Scheffler reflector system situated in Rajasthan, India is able to cook up to 35,000 meals a day.- The world’s biggest thin-film photovoltaic power system “Waldpolenz Solar Park” can be found in Germany.- Topaz Solar Farm, a 550-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant that is currently being built, will be among the biggest facilities after completion.

Solar energy facts related to solar powered flight:

- The Astro Flight – Sunrise, an unmanned air vehicle engineered in 1975 was the 1st solar powered airplane.- The Gossamer Penguin, created in 1980, was the 1st airplane exclusively fueled by that was able to carry a human.- Helios, an unmanned air vehicle, powered in part by owns the record for achieving the highest altitude of 96,863 feet, and also a world record for continual horizontal flight by a winged aircraft.- Vanguard 1, an American satellite launched in 1958 was the world’s 1st solar powered satellite. Incredibly the satellite continues to orbit the earth today and it celebrated its 50th birthday in 2008.- IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun) is the first spacecraft to successfully exhibit solar-sail technology in space. The Japanese launched the spacecraft in 2010 in an H-IIA rocket.

Because of the prolonged volatility of oil prices and the fact that the typical citizen has started to become more conscious of their natural environment, there has actually been a strong drive towards the of renewable energy. This increased push for non-fossil fuel energy definitely will aid to lower the cost of solar panels together with other types of alternative energy options. A need for businesses to appear eco-friendly has produced large scale ad strategies from energy giants like BP and General Electric, presenting their ventures in green sources of energy. These energy giants are certainly not the only ones investing in sustainable energy, the increasing cost for natural gas, coal, and oil have forced energy prices higher and made “eco-friendly” energy sources including solar power, an attainable financial choice for everyone. Demand for solar energy has increased at 30 percent yearly during the previous 15 years. In 2009, PV solar installations grew by 20%, compared to 2008, with more than 7.3GW of photovoltaic installations all over the world. Gains in 2009 generated by the photovoltaic industry additionally went up, getting to .5 billion.

The attraction for solar power is crystal clear. It’s a practically limitless resource. It is free of greenhouse gas emissions, generally considered to add to worldwide climate change. In industrialized countries which use a huge amount of air conditioning systems, it produces more electricity specifically whenever you need it– during instances of maximum electrical energy usage. Once put in, solar systems should be able to function for 30 or more years with a minimal amount of routine maintenance or management. Even so, solar comes with some restraints, specifically the low efficiency of PV modules, that is additionally decreased by the requirement to turn DC from solar cells into AC current. Furthermore, solar power relies on weather conditions and also is an intermittent energy source, which requires storage or additional systems to supplement during times of low power generation. Overall the positive solar energy facts significantly outweigh the negative. These positive facts are helpful to explain this vital change in the direction of more widespread use of solar energy, which will certainly offer a flourishing and more balanced environment for many generations to come.

It is important for everybody to know a few common solar energy facts so they can appreciate the full potential of solar power, our most abundant resource.










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Solar Cells Prices – DIY

Published by fnever on April 8th, 2012 - in Knowledge Base

Article by Kapil Ochani

Solar calculators, , solar generators and solar lights are well and good, but what about the solar cell cost, the basic unit which constitutes all solar products? In a day and age when fossil fuels are fast depleting, skyrocketing prices, not to mention the resulting environment fallout, countries are quickly turning to renewable energy. And one of the more popular sources of renewable energy is .

Moreover, the price constitutes over 60% of the total cost of installing a solar device. This immediately necessitates a discussion on costs. And for to be lucrative in any manner and form there has to be some kind of conceivable profit. This is the reason why it’s good news that prices are falling and bound to fall further.

PRICE IN TERMS OF TECHNOLOGY

A photovoltaic (PV) cell, is basically a device which converts energy from the sunlight in the form of photons into electricity. Since the first functional solar cell was created in 1954, the years since then have provided ample opportunity for much research and technological advancement, leading to better quality and thus a decrease in cost.

Yet solar technology and manufacturing is expensive, simply because the cost of silicon far outweighs any other cost. Therefore no matter the price fall, they are still high and therefore costs are a vital part of the equation.

Solar cell modules are primarily made from silicon, the best semi-conductor available presently. The silicon shortage in 2008 allowed greater inroads to be made in non-silicon technology. In addition, silicon has a relatively higher manufacturing cost. But for large-scale application and heavy-duty machinery, silicon remains the most effective choice due to its higher efficiencies.

Conversely for smaller products, there is a greater chance of solar cell price reduction. R&D using cheaper alternatives such as amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon, advances in production technology and electricity generation performances (for example faster deposition rates) are all helping reduce prices. Costs further decrease through use of silicon ribbon growth process instead of conventional ingot technology. DIY solar kits also allow customers to put together cheaper solar panels, balancing cell cost and efficiency.

The current drive in the solar market is for efficiency per , to lower cost. Complex manufacturing processes used in first and second generation solar cells result in greater costs. However, techniques such as concentrated photovoltaics (requires using optical elements to converge sunlight on a particular area) ultimately bring down total solar cell cost.

Third generation cells further diminish price, since they use a lower temperature process, yet they are currently not as efficient. But research continues.

Solar cells costs are also being reduced through use of cheaper raw materials (thus the use of polymers) to produce lightweight and flexible products. Current solar modules have led to a cost decrease as quality, proficiency and precision of the technology increases.

ACTUAL SOLAR CELLS PRICES

Coming to actual solar cell cost, solar cells can be found in the .30 – .00 range, depending on type, make and brand. Currently, the price in USA is .51 per watt, as opposed to .83 three years ago, for a 125 Watt and higher module. The costs are higher in Europe.

Solar cells prices vary in different countries. Germany, Spain, Japan, the US, Italy are among the top countries producing solar power. Japan and Germany, due in part to large government subsidies, are the top contenders for price competitiveness. Over the past year, there have been more companies that have lowered prices for a , meaning lowered solar cells costs.

SOLAR CELL PRICE TREND

Ultimately, are solar cells cost effective? General opinion varies; eventually technology leads the . The more technology progresses, the greater cost effectiveness. For example, direct bright sunlight is no longer necessary for many modern solar cells. Earlier this year, a breakthrough was made in thin-film technology, which if used in mass-scale production, could considerably not only lower solar cell price but also reduce material waste.

While initially expensive to set up, a cell lasts for 20-30 years, with an output that should not fall below 80%. Add in oil costs, depleting resources, and the way is paved for greater demand and in turn greater large-scale production of solar energy equipment, leading to low prices.

Moreover, there is a significant part of the world that receives considerable sunlight, India being one of them. What’s more, far-off regions not linked to the power grid in developing nations would – and do – benefit greatly from solar power. Also, costs can be compared to the price of electricity. Countries where the latter is high, like in Japan and Italy, are much better off using technology in residential areas, even if cost recovery is not immediate.

Consequently, many areas can be looked into, apart from actual solar research, which would in the long-term help reduce price. And though solar cell technology has been present for a long time now, it is only currently that solar power has become economically feasible and a market-friendly product. That price is going down is accepted, and solar prices will continue this downward trend with increasing competitiveness and greater market contenders. For example, increased usage in European countries has led countries like China and Taiwan to jump in – and China, which produces 9 GW cells every year at present, is well known for lowering costs. So it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume costs are going to be coming down in the future.

Cells are a vital part of a solar module. Solar cell manufacturers are going to be looking at decreasing prices, to make them more attractive to consumers. Solar cost is going to continue on its way down, and there are no two ways about it.

Kapil has been a consultant in Solar Panels India domain and has been working on his own website to develop new ideas using solar panels in India.










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