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“Currently, energy costs account for approximately 10 to 15 percent of all hotel expenses,”

By implementing solar cogeneration, we will be able to reduce our energy expenses and help the environment by reducing our consumption of traditional energy sources and our greenhouse gas emissions.”

rid electricity prices are not fixed, but changing.  Over the past decade, electricity prices have risen, on average across the United States, 3 percent per year.  The solar electricity price is locked in once the panels are operating. Some utilities have time-of-use rates that charge more for electricity during peak times (hot, summer afternoons) that rise as high as 30 cents per kWh.  Solar competes favorably against these rates. There are federal, state and utility incentives for solar that reduce the cost.  The 30% federal tax credit, for example, is in statute until the end of 2016.

The first step is translating solar prices into electricity prices.  Installed costs for solar have dropped dramatically, from $8 to $10 per Watt just a few years ago to as low as $3.50 per Watt for utility-scale systems as just over $4 per Watt for residential systems.  But electricity isn't sold in Watts, but in kilowatt-hours (kWh).  So, solar installed at $3.50 per Watt in Minneapolis, MN, will produce electricity for about 23 cents per kWh.  In sunny Los Angeles, the same solar PV array would produce power at 19 cents per kWh, because the more abundant and direct sunshine would make 20% more solar electricity over the same time period.

by the time their solar PV systems are halfway to their expected life of 25 years, 45 million Americans (roughly 1 in 6) would have cheaper electricity from solar if they installed right now at $3.50 per Watt.

Even if some European and US PV companies, such as SolarWorld, are underperforming in some respects, such underperformance has nothing to do with the exports of Chinese PV companies, but instead is because of their misjudgement of the growth opportunities in the market

Due to reduced incentives, improper investment decisions and lack of scale, certain PV companies have found themselves in a disadvantageous position in the market competition. It is a normal phenomenon in market competitions. These frustrated companies should revisit and adjust their own business strategies, elevate their production and management levels, and meet consumer’s demand in a better wa

The solar industry in the US generates approximately 100,000 jobs, while in comparison SolarWorld provides only 1,000 jobs. If the US market were denied access to the PV cell products of competitive prices, other 99,000 jobs would be put into a dangerous situation. That is exactly why SolarWorld’s petition is opposed by US companies from upstream raw material and equipment suppliers to downstream distributors and users, environmental protection organizations and climate experts.”

wo major categories of silicon have been used in the manufacture of solar cells—monocrystalline silicon in the form of single wafers made from ingots, and poly- or multicrystalline silicon made from large blocks of molten material carefully cooled and solidifie

C:Si technology will represent 42.9% of the module shipments by major technology by 2015. The material will experience a 34.1% growth rate from 2010 to 2015. Thin film materials will represent 32.0% of the module shipments by major technology by 2015. Thin films will experience a 55.7% growth rate from 2010 to 2015.

onocrystalline silicon proved to be the most efficient but its single wafers are more costly to produce because they are cut from cylindrical ingots. They have registered the highest solar to electric conversion efficiency (25%) of any material. Multicrystalline, or poly-silicon solar cells, while less costly to produce, are a little less efficient averaging 17% to 21%. They are extremely durable however, and over the past several decades, multicrystalline silicon has become the leading material used in solar cells.

Cutting non-module solar PV costs with best design practices could make solar PV cost less than grid electricity for more than 25 percent of Americans.

how to reduce balance of system costs by 58 percent in five years.

They found that the balance of system savings (and induced reduction in module costs) could lower the price of solar PV electricity from 22 cents per kWh to 8 cents per kWh. 

"Putting storage into the charger rather than using the vehicle for power to the home will preserve the life of the EV’s batteries and can capture cheaper energy even if the vehicle is not plugged in,"

These batteries could also be integration with a photovoltaics/solar power installation

prototype integrated solar-assisted electric vehicle charging station to be erected at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

Today, silicon wafers and PV modules are in more ample supply, and negotiating power has shifted back to the buyer, though the near term outlook for c-Si components is somewhat uncertain because of accelerating demand. With cost leadership now a matter of survival in a tight PV market, the competitiveness of thin-film technologies has been challenged. However, a new generation of thin-film silicon technology is poised to regain cost leadership within the industry. Key innovations are helping to drive down cost and increase efficiency and reliability to reinforce thin film’s competitive advantages in end user markets.

Thin-film silicon PV modules require far less silicon than traditional methods (less than 1/100th of a wafer thickness) and use widely available, comparatively inexpensive materials.

Another key positive factor is that thin-film silicon technology uses only environmentally friendly, non-toxic substances. Finally, thin-film silicon panels have an inherent advantage in real energy performance, due primarily to the fact that thin-film silicon has a temperature coefficient “penalty” that is almost 50% lower than most conventional crystalline. In hot climates, this advantage results in 5% to10% higher output per installed watt compared to crystalline silicon.