Manufacturing costs for solar coming down
Menlo Park, Calif.
Quartz, the raw material for solar panels, is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. But for years, the solar industry has faced a bottleneck in processing quartz into polysilicon, a principal material used in most solar panels. The problem stalled a steady decline in prices for solar panels.
Now the silicon shortage may be coming to an end, predict some solar analysts, thanks to new factories coming online.
If true, the price for solar panel modules could start falling by as much as a third by 2010, says Travis Bradford, president of the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development in Cambridge, Mass. That’s good news for an industry that remains one of the most expensive power sources.
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Why Go Solar?
Here is a very informative video about solar power and how it can benefit you. Tony Boniface is the owner of Independent Power Systems that operates in the area of Colorado and Montana. He gives a very solid interview on why you should think about solar power for your home. Enjoy!
Canadian Solar Announces Delivery of BIPV Modules for 2008 Olympics
JIANGSU, China, June 11 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ — Canadian Solar Inc.
(”the Company”, “CSI” or “we”) (Nasdaq: CSIQ) today announced it has
completed the delivery of 66 KW of BIPV modules for the lamp posts along
the Olympic Boulevard from the “Bird’s Nest”, the main stadium for the 2008
Olympic Games, to the Olympic Square. This BIPV project sits right on the
axis of Beijing, symbolizing the nation’s increasing commitment to
sustainable development. Over its 25-year operating lifespan, this solar
power system, with modules horizontally placed for aesthetic purpose, will
still generate more than 1,925,000 Kilowatt hours and reduce CO2 emissions
by more than 2750 tons.
The Easiest Way to Reduce Your Solar Power Costs.
The cost of solar panels is a huge part of the overall cost of a solar energy system for a home. The more power you use, the larger system (especially panels) you are going to need. You can cut down the cost of your solar installation by reducing your home’s power requirements.
The largest portion of energy consumption in this country isn’t the car in your driveway. It’s the house the car is sitting in front of, and the building that you work in.
There isn’t a whole lot you can do about the building you work in probably, and for this article, the concern is tightening up your house’s consumption to lower your energy useage, thereby lowering your solar power needs. A 1kwh reduction of power usage for a home = $9000 (approx.) reduction in cost of purchase for a solar system by today’s prices. There are many things you can do that will cost less than the $9k you will save for the reduction, and this article will hopefully give you some ideas to start with.
Low Cost Solar Cells Made From Fruit
Currently, commercial solar cells are made from silicon. These cells are around 21% efficient and are pretty much the solar standard. But a new material has come on the scene for creating these cells; Fruit. More precisely, fruit juices. Using these fruit juices as a conductive dye, panels are less efficient, but significantly cheaper as well.
The major hinderance to the solar energy market at this time is the cost. An estimated 70% of the cost of the average solar installation is the cost of the solar modules because of silicon. The law of supply and demand have silicon prices going up because not only is silicon used for solar panels, it also is a staple of the semiconductor field.
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