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.

SMA was identified as the inverter leader, with over 30 percent of the market. Its success is said to lie in its increasingly strong focus on emerging foreign  markets.

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.”

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onshore wind powe

t would arrive at 47.5 GW in 2022 and 64.5 GW in 2032, compared with 27.1 GW of capacity installed in 2010

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.

From a broader perspective, though, the Topaz deal is a positive signal to other developers and the market overall. The Topaz project "demonstrates that solar energy is a commercially viable technology without the support of governmental loan guarantees," s

high quality projects will get financing even in a dislocated macro environment that has hampered project financing, and will have a positive perception effect" on the likes of downstream players such as SunPower and MEMC Electronic Materials.

The smart guys are getting into these early projects because they have very attractive power-purchase agreements,

For example, Free Hot Water pre-engineered systems are ideal for hotels, multi-family residents, nursing homes, hospitals, restaurants, laundry facilities, and many other commercial and industrial applications. Installers who can sign contracts for these applications and purchase at least 5% of the equipment will enable their clients to take advantage of the 30% cash grants available under TGP.