Solar PV News

[mspohr]

Solar households expected to give away power to energy firms
Solar households expected to give away power to energy firms

UK solar feed in tariff set to expire for new installs.

 

[mspohr]

Silicon plus perovskite sandwich increases efficiency

Cheaper, more efficient solar technology a step closer

 

[mspohr]

Electricity prices forecast to fall 2.1% in two years due to wind and solar

 

[Merrill]

Electricity prices forecast to fall 2.1% in two years due to wind and solar

I do not see PG&E lowering prices!

 

[mspohr]

I do not see PG&E lowering prices!

This is primarily about Australia. However, it shows that renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels and that they will eventually bring down prices... even in the face of utility monopolies.

 

[mspohr]

I do not see PG&E lowering prices!

Interesting story that popped up this morning. It looks like Ca PUC is looking at radical changes to PGE management and structure to address some of its problems.
Regulators mull massive changes to PG&E management, structure

 

[Merrill]

This has been needed for many years but the CPUC has signed off on anything PG&E wanted to do, you know they will pass on some of the cost of the wildfires to customers. Big changes are needed.

 

[mspohr]

Multilateral Banks Pile Onto Mexico Solar | CleanTechnica

Mexico is going full speed ahead on solar with the potential for cross border manufacturing and export of power to the US.

 

[nwdiver]

Amazing what a difference <8 years makes. From $1.69/w for 'C' grade 200w panels => $0.48/w for 'A' grade 345w panels I really think we'll see panels available for <$0.15/w by 2025 if not sooner.

 

[SageBrush]

China dialed down its PV mandates in 2018, leading to a flood of panels on to the international market and a collapse in pricing.

 

[mspohr]

China dialed down its PV mandates in 2018, leading to a flood of panels on to the international market and a collapse in pricing.

That certainly put a glut of panels on the market and prices dropped but they were all quickly snapped up. The long term forecast is for prices to continue to drop. Incremental advances in manufacturing techniques keep lowering the cost to produce panels. No "breakthroughs" required.
Today you can build a solar installation and have cheaper electricity than just the fuel cost for coal or NG plants and this fact alone should put a lot of fossil fuel infrastructure out of business.

 

[SageBrush]

That certainly put a glut of panels on the market and prices dropped but they were all quickly snapped up. The long term forecast is for prices to continue to drop. Incremental advances in manufacturing techniques keep lowering the cost to produce panels. No "breakthroughs" required.
Today you can build a solar installation and have cheaper electricity than just the fuel cost for coal or NG plants and this fact alone should put a lot of fossil fuel infrastructure out of business.

I agree; I just think that panel pricing will sort of plateau and further price decreases will be proportional to efficiency advances.
However, the price of solar installations still have lots of room to drop, particularly residential. You can see it in the prices @nwdiver offers: the lion's share of his costs are soft like permitting and advertising. You might also be amazed at how much technical innovation has gone into the installation process itself. We are very close to the point where residential PV is mostly a weekend DIY affair for 2-3 people who are not averse to a little lego and are able to draw a straight line.

 

[nwdiver]

We are very close to the point where residential PV is mostly a weekend DIY affair for 2-3 people who are not averse to a little lego and are able to draw a straight line.

AND... here's a fun thought. When 500w commercial panels are available for $0.30/w and the solar farm that was built in 2015 with 300w panels realizes that increasing their DC output by 66% even if they're paying $0.45/w overall would be worth it. Used panels should be available at super low prices. I'm already seeing this to some extent on eBay but I have no idea the source. Solar Farms that decide to increase their DC output by upgrading panels would cause a flood. That would be a boon to the DIY world.

 

[SageBrush]

AND... here's a fun thought. When 500w commercial panels are available for $0.30/w and the solar farm that was built in 2015 with 300w panels realizes that increasing their DC output by 66% even if they're paying $0.45/w overall would be worth it. Used panels should be available at super low prices. I'm already seeing this to some extent on eBay but I have no idea the source. Solar Farms that decide to increase their DC output by upgrading panels would cause a flood. That would be a boon to the DIY world.

Sweet idea but aren't those 500 watt panels just a proportionally larger panel ?

 

[nwdiver]

Sweet idea but aren't those 500 watt panels just a proportionally larger panel ?

They won't be Standard 72 cell panels are now pushing 400w. I think ~500w by 2025 is very possible.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I agree; I just think that panel pricing will sort of plateau and further price decreases will be proportional to efficiency advances.
However, the price of solar installations still have lots of room to drop, particularly residential. You can see it in the prices @nwdiver offers: the lion's share of his costs are soft like permitting and advertising. You might also be amazed at how much technical innovation has gone into the installation process itself. We are very close to the point where residential PV is mostly a weekend DIY affair for 2-3 people who are not averse to a little lego and are able to draw a straight line.

And not fall off the roof.

There are already signs that commodity panels will increase in efficiency, and the efficiency improvements are especially exciting because that's key for geographical spread.

 

[mspohr]

I agree; I just think that panel pricing will sort of plateau and further price decreases will be proportional to efficiency advances.
However, the price of solar installations still have lots of room to drop, particularly residential. You can see it in the prices @nwdiver offers: the lion's share of his costs are soft like permitting and advertising. You might also be amazed at how much technical innovation has gone into the installation process itself. We are very close to the point where residential PV is mostly a weekend DIY affair for 2-3 people who are not averse to a little lego and are able to draw a straight line.

I agree. My history with solar is illustrative. My first set of panels four years ago were installed on poles consisted of 16 x 250w Solarworld panels with Enphase M250. Professional installation was $21,000. Second set of panels two years ago (9 x 285 Solarworld/Enphase S280) DIY using Ironridge racks on the roof of my garage. It was an easy erector set installation and only cost about $6,000. My third set this summer were surplus SunPower 430 w panels x 6 on an IronRidge rack with an SMA inverter (DIY). Less than $2000.
I'm at the point now where I generate most of the power my car and house uses. I'm switching my NG water/space heating to heat pumps and hope to be fossil fuel free soon.

 

[nwdiver]

I'm switching my NG water/space heating to heat pumps and hope to be fossil fuel free soon.

What heat pumps are you considering?

 

[mspohr]

What heat pumps are you considering?

I have a GE heat pump water heater for the garage loft apartment. I got a discount when they were discontinued and so far (2 years) no problems.
I installed a Chiltrix CX34 heat pump to replace a Voyager NG water heater and hydronic heating unit. I used the Voyager tank as the hot water heat exchanger. I'm thinking of installing another Chiltrix unit to replace a Carrier forced air NG furnace... trying to figure out how I can add an air exchange unit within the Carrier furnace.
High SEER, IPLV, IEER Chiller Air Conditioner Technology | High Efficiency Chiller Technology & Documents | Chiltrix Inc.

 

[Unpilot]

Reading this has me thinking about putting solar on my Garage at least. I am selling everything and downsizing to a rv in 2 years. So I thought I would never recoup cost's because of limited time.

However i am not adverse to sweat or labor and can draw a fairly straight line.

Do you wise folks have a idea on how to help this solar neophyte?