Tax Credit Solar
April 20th, 2010
Question: Has the price of solar power been dropping lately?
If so, what’s behind it? I seem to recall the price of panels being about $30,000 for 6000 watts. But everywhere I look now, the price is hovering around 15,000. With the 30% tax credit, that would lower the price to around $11,000 for a standard setup with Grid Tie. Almost makes it affordable. What do you think?
Answer: Combination of things.
Economies of scale: we’re increasing production very quickly (it’s now about 17GW/yr iirc, in the 1990s it was probably less than 1GW)
Other factors are new technologies using cheaper materials – eg more efficient panels requiring less silicon or thin film panels using other materials. High tech stuff always tends to decrease in price as manufacturing tech improves too; look at the prices of games consoles over 5 years or so!
We seem to have hit a temporary lull in price falls up until the current glut of silicon, but improved tech should keep reducing prices.
EDIT: An older report said that the biggest price drops were due to increased efficiency in installation etc. Recently though, the price drop has been because of a silicon glut. See sources.
Tax Incentives Could Cut Costs of Solar Power Requirements – By Nick DiMarco
Nick@MarylandReporter.comNew tax incentives for businesses that use renewable energy sources such as…
solar water heater – Home Depo – Delta Mechanical
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