As production of solar panels increases and the technology increases, solar panels are becoming more affordable and will be more widely used and available. The reason for the drop in prices is due to the expected hike in silicon production, a shortage of which is currently being felt. It is expected that silicon availability will quadruple to 125,302 tons by 2012, providing a massive oversupply of the material to the industry.
A recent USA Today report predicts that prices for solar equipment, including installation, will fall 15 to 20 percent in 2009, after sinking by as much as ten percent in October alone. The newspaper credits a combination of high worldwide manufacturing capacity for solar equipment, as well as the ongoing recession.
Even when the recession is over, consumers can generally expect a trend of lower prices for solar energy. Many companies and research institutions are rapidly making progress on solar technology that will deliver power at or below the costs offered by fossil fuel sources, and the growing efficiency of such products provides even more incentive to invest in a home system.
Before many people were hesitant to invest in solar power because of the initial cost of the equipment and installation, even though in the long run it would save them money, many people couldn’t put that type of money out up front or didn’t want to take on that much debt for solar power. With prices expected to drop and stay reasonable this could help all American’s stop depending on the electric company to deliver their power and it will also help the environment. It will provide an endless source of energy to keep your house running. What I don’t understand is why it’s taken so long to get the solar panel technology up to par and cost effective for the buyer. The faster everyone in America is able to access this clean energy, the faster we can stop our reliance on oil and coal.
