August solar prices fell at the quickest pace in the last eight years, according to the monthly survey by Solarbuzz.com. In Europe, prices reached another record low. And industrial electricity prices are finally poised to fall below (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘solar power’
Retail Solar Price Drop Accelerates, New Record Lows Reached
Tuesday, August 4th, 2009Solar may be emerging from 1st quarter bottom
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
The first quarter has been a rough one for most solar companies. Aside from First Solar whose profits tripled, most solar companies reported large decreases in their profits and, most likely, losses. But the last two reports (from Trina Solar and China Sunergy) paint the picture of a potential return to profitability in the (more…)
Much of US to enjoy solar grid parity by 2012
Monday, May 11th, 2009
The economics of solar power are changing rapidly. And if the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development (PI) is right that solar module prices will fall more than 50% by 2012, grid parity will be achieved across many parts of the US. Solar electricity currently carries a price tag that is higher than (more…)
Price of solar continues to fall in May, record low reached in Europe
Monday, May 4th, 2009Solarbuzz.com reported this morning that prices for solar modules fell another few pennies per watt. As supply has fully caught up with demand in 2009, prices are skidding down. But since fossil fuel prices remain substantially lower due to the global recession, the price of solar remains relatively high and will take many more months of decreases before grid parity becomes (more…)
First Solar profit jumps as costs fall
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Earlier this week, I shared the news of profits and growth in the wind industry. And yesterday, a key solar company reported outstanding profits as well. First Solar reduced its manufacturing cost per watt more than (more…)
US Solar Industry Growing in 2009: Whole Foods and Wal-Mart Step Up
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
With bulging inventories of oil and a global economy set to shrink for the first time since World War II, it’s hard to imagine great short-term growth prospects for solar and other renewable energy sources. But generous governmental support, a bit of private leadership, and a backlog of demand from 2008 have kept the industry (more…)
The Vatican Goes Solar
Friday, April 17th, 2009
Only a few days after Roman Catholic Easter, the tradition’s faith leaders announced a plan to care for God’s Creation by harvesting energy from sunlight. Solar photovoltaic (PV) power exists in a small scale all over the world, from arrays less than 1 kW to a couple dozen MW. But the Holy See just announced that they intend to build what would today be the world’s biggest solar PV system at (more…)
US Solar Market Has Room to Grow
Monday, March 23rd, 2009The US pioneered solar in the 1950s, and was the largest market for a long time. But as I have discussed in previous posts, it’s been many years since the US market led global growth. Germany has dominated PV growth for a number of years until Spain’s strong 2008 growth of 2.46 GW. Today’s post will discuss the whole solar market (including solar thermal) after perusing the 2008 Year in Review published by (more…)
More record low solar prices in Europe
Monday, March 9th, 2009
The price of solar modules continues to fall in March. In fact, the drop accelerated from February’s pace driven by a seven euro cent fall (~1.5%) for prices in Europe to a new record low of 4.55 euros per watt. In the US, prices fell three cents (.6%) to $4.78 per watt. This translated into an estimated price per kWh of (more…)
Atlantic City Becomes Leader in Renewable Energy
Thursday, March 5th, 2009Atlantic City is not just the East Coast’s gambling epicenter anymore. Today it added another claim to fame: leadership in renewable energy. The Atlantic City Convention Center celebrated a gigantic new solar array that is the country’s largest roof-top system. At 2.37 MW, the Convention Center installation beat out (more…)