> They have 100W panels for $1.74/watt on their site right now.

> Assuming a bad area (5 hours direct light/day for 180 "good"
> days/year) and 20 year life (to 80% of original capacity) then that
> pannel is about $0.097 per kWH, which is competitive with electricity
> in most areas. =A0The areas that have lower eletricity rates also
> typically have more sun, so it may be that we're finally reaching a
> tipping point in solar power.
>
> It doesn't cover the cost of converters, controllers, battery banks,
> MPPT, trackers, mounts, permits, insurance, etc.

Using "discounted cash flow" to allow for the cost of money produces a
less favourable result :-(. Probable increasing energy costs with time
offset this somewhat.

It is generally considered that "grid parity" will be reached at about
$1/Watt all up installed cost. Projections that I have seen allow
about $0.80 for panel cost and $0.20 for infrastructure. That was for
CIGS panels with a somewhat different mounting cost than silicon
(higher area so more windage but lower mass). Long term materials
availability suggests that CIGS may well not provide the solution that
it might have if the materials had been more available. This may
change once we start mining asteroids :-).


                  Russell McMahon

-- =

http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist