The Reason For The Fall In Price Of Solar Panels

The average selling price for solar pv modules is 1 50 and will likely fall to 1 by 2013 there s some debate in the sector about how long companies will beable to push costs for silicon based technologies downward.

The reason for the fall in price of solar panels.

Tariffs on imported solar products and the rising cost of finding customers slowed the price decline and flattened growth leaving installers policymakers and utilities asking if the price will. Solar panels will continue to decline in price in the 2020s the sun is set to shine on solar energy. 2010 increased demand leaps in technology and tax incentives keep driving prices down. To raise cash and stay afloat manufacturers rushed to sell off inventory and diverted sales offshore sending prices into a downward spiral.

For about the last decade however the largest single high level factor in the continuing cost decline has been economies of scale as solar cell and module manufacturing plants have become ever larger. The cost of building new solar projects is now almost the same as the cost of operating coal fired power plants that are already up and running at an average of 35 mwh. The cost has generally been following swanson s law which states that the price of solar drops by 20 for every doubling of shipped product. Wood mackenzie forecasts that spot prices for modules could fall from 0 30 per watt dc to 0 18 per watt dc in the next five years a 40 percent drop.

This raises the question of which factors can help continue the cost decline trancik says. And r d is only part of the equation. It was a windfall for solar power generators and investors in solar farms as prices for panels as measured in cost per watt they generate dropped by 25 to 30. Today it s around 0 13 per watt or about 600 times less.

2008 an extension to the itc prompts another round of interest in solar and increased demand begins leading pricing decline. As the clean electricity source surges in popularity it s seen a reduction in prices. This represents a massive 9x drop in the price of solar panels since 2006.