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Lower Prices Driving Solar Technology Growth
Green Technology Featured Articles
March 04, 2014

Lower Prices Driving Solar Technology Growth

By Michael Guta
TMCnet Contributing Writer

According to Bruno Michel, a lead scientist with IBM (News - Alert) Research, the Earth receives 85,000 terawatts of energy from the Sun each year, and yet we, as humans, only need 15 terawatts to meet all of our energy needs – less than half a percent of what the sun provides. Harnessing the sun’s power, therefore, will give our planet a reliable, abundant source of energy that is clean and free once the infrastructure is securely in place.


Global solar power generation is thus growing steadily, with massive installation being constructed in China, Japan, the Middle East and the United States. The biggest solar plant in the world, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, was just completed in the California Mojave Desert, and is capable of producing 392 Megawatts of energy, enough to power 140,000 homes in California.

One of the biggest drivers for solar technology adoption is the achievement costs of less than $0.50 per watt for both silicon and non-silicon based modules; depending on the installation, the price could be as low as $0.30 per watt, a reduction of 6 to 14 percent from 2012.

The growth of the industry is also spurring employment in the sector. According to the Solar Foundation ,the industry saw more than 142,000 Americans employed in 2013. In his article on the Huffington Post, Brian Keane (News - Alert), president of SmartPower, a not-for-profit promoting awareness of clean energy in the marketplace, says solar power has been experiencing impressive steady growth over recent years, with low prices redefining the technology in residential applications in America.

The push to have higher adoption rates of solar technology has been one of the initiatives President Obama has been advocating during his presidency. He wants renewable power to increase to 20 percent of total federal government energy usage by 2020, and he has shown his support for solar energy by installing solar panels on the roof of the White House.

The adoption of this technology is also being driven by increased awareness of the energy dependence on foreign countries and the environmental impact of using fossil-based fuels. As Keane states in his article, families with median incomes ranging from $40,000-$90,000 had been the biggest adopters in the three states with the most residential solar systems – Arizona, California and New Jersey. But from 2011 to 2012, the biggest growth was from families with median incomes ranging from $40,000 to $50,000 in both Arizona and California, and $30,000 to $40,000 in New Jersey.

With new solar power technology in the pipeline capable of producing more power at much lower price points than previous systems, it is only a matter of time before solar panels become a normal part of residential developments around the country.




Edited by Blaise McNamee


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