Solar power panels may be green, eco-friendly and also help to save the planet but unless they can be competitive in the energy marketplace then they will never be extensively used. A new coal-burning plant can easily deliver electricity at $2 per watt and making this the benchmark figure that the solar scientists are trying to match.
For the past twenty years scientists have been developing innovative and cheaper designs of solar power panels. It is the Silicone based solar photovoltaic panels that have dominated the industry and they sell for about $3 a watt, but this is before installation.
For a while there was an actual shortage of silicone and although the demand for solar panels was growing, the solar panel suppliers were not able to meet that demand. Now even though there is a plentiful supply of silicone, still the operation of refining it to produce the semiconductors is a costly process and there are not too many companies that do this. The handful of factories that are able to manufacture this refined silicone have a monopoly on the supply which means that while the demand is high they still keep the price inflated.
The actual price of refined silicone is one of the main elements in the cost of solar panels. The key thrust of research taking place today is in improving ways to reduce the amount of silicone that is required to produce a solar panel. There is also investigation taking place with alternative cheaper materials which are equally effective. There are certain organic materials that have semiconductor properties which may be used instead of silicone.
The cost of installation will change quite significantly depending on whether you do it yourself or if you call in an experienced installer. To install a solar power system in your home using a specialist installer will cost you between $10 - $12 per watt. If you install the system yourself then it should most likely cost you about $4 per watt.
While the initial expense of installation of a home solar energy system would still be fairly expensive it is inevitable that in the near future, given the amazing developments that are happening, the price will come down. In the mean time, government authorities all over the world are encouraging and subsidizing the use of this technology by giving tax rebates and incentives for homeowners who install solar energy systems.
Therefore if you install your solar energy system by yourself at the cost of about $4 per watt and then claim all the tax rebates and incentives that are offered in the area, then your solar power cost may not be so far from the $2 per watt benchmark of the electricity delivered by the coal-burning plant.
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