The US-based, thin-film solar company, First Solar, just became the first solar company to lower its costs per watt below $1. After starting out with typical costs ~$3 per watt back in 2004, the company has achieved economies of scale and other advances to lower their costs more than 67%. Their production capacity has expanded rapidly to more than (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘solar power’
First Solar Breaks $1 per Watt Cost Barrier!
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009Solar Prices Poised to Fall Dramatically
Friday, February 13th, 2009I’ve been blogging a lot these days on the slow change in overall solar module prices, which have fallen a few percent while oil and natural gas prices fell ~65%. Long-term contracts make up a larger share of the module flow, so that the rise of supply above stagnant demand will take several months to translate into a big drop in solar’s price. But apparently that big drop is still on the way… (more…)
Princeton installing 2nd biggest campus solar array in East
Monday, February 9th, 2009
I’m proud to share the news that my graduate alma mater is completing a 370-kW solar installation on one of its rooftops. I remember hearing early word about the project just a year and a half ago, and now it is already becoming a reality. While this system is much smaller than many installations popping up all over California colleges and universities, it is the second biggest in the East, after (more…)
Solar power prices continue slide
Friday, February 6th, 2009The monthly review released today by solarbuzz.com shows solar prices have fallen a bit further over the last month. Prices fell more slowly than last month due to price stability in Europe, but made a step in the right direction. While this price remains significantly above that of coal, oil, and natural gas – it positions solar closer to achieving grid parity in the mid-2010s. (more…)
US natural gas supplies build, solar industry revving up
Thursday, September 18th, 2008The EIA reported another build in storage today, though the supply increase was 24% lower than the five-year average for this week due to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. We will have at least one more week of slow growth reported next Thursday from Ike production, leaving many analysts to predict that this year’s winter storage peak will be closer to average than last year’s record. Since natural gas consumption has increased these last few years, this development is somewhat bullish — especially given the weak dollar. But natural gas supplies remain robust for the winter unless (more…)