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.

University of Texas at Austin stating that one of its chemists has discovered a way that may allow solar panel efficiency to be doubled, possibly reaching as high as 66%

“At current, approximately 31% insolation-to-electricity efficiency of a silicon solar cell is considered to be the maximum in the solar industry,”

“Being able to cheaply double the efficiency and even being able to reach 66% efficiency could potentially erase the barriers of competing with cheap fossil fuels very quickly.”

According to data from Pike Research’s annual Electric Vehicle Consumer Survey, the optimal price for a plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) to engage consumers is $23,750, but a quick pricing check reveals distance between want and reality: 2012 Toyota Prius PHEV ($32,000), the Honda Fit BEV ($36,625), and the Ford Focus EV ($39,995) (before federal incentives). These relatively high selling prices will constrain the market for PEVs in 2012. Nevertheless, the global market for plug-in electric vehicles will grow to more than a quarter million vehicles in 2012.

Car-sharing services will expand the market for EVs and hybrids. Battery production will outstrip vehicle production. The Asia-Pacific region will become the early leader in vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems. Third-party EV charging companies will dominate public charging sales. Employers will begin to purchase EV chargers in large numbers.  EVs will begin to function as home appliances. 

“By teaming up with Phoenix Solar, we now have a partner with the worldwide reach to help make our structural adhesives a catalyst for accelerating the adoption of solar energy,”

By 2017, Pike Research forecasts that more than 1.5 million locations to charge vehicles will be available in the United States, with a total of nearly 7.7 million locations worldwide.

Fracking — injecting high-pressure fluid into rocks deep underground, inducing the release of fossil fuels — is an impressive technology. But it’s also a technology that imposes large costs on the public. We know that it produces toxic (and radioactive) wastewater that contaminates drinking water; there is reason to suspect, despite industry denials, that it also contaminates groundwater; and the heavy trucking required for fracking inflicts major damage on roads.