In 1960 the production cost of IC (Integrated Circuits) was $1000/IC, now the cost are cents or less because the high demand and the improvement of the production process. At that time the only demand for ICs was military and space programs.
Are there people interested in not promoting the demand and/or production improvement of solar panels (oil, car companies) or it is only a technological issue?
In 1960, $1000 may not even have bought 1 watt of solar cells, but today, 1 watt (a fraction of a cell) costs about $4. So prices have come down.
The difference between solar panels and IC’s are that solar panels have a lot of raw material, and IC’s have very small. The material cost (not counting processing) of an IC may be just a few cents, but a solar panel has a significant amount of silicon, not to mention an aluminum frame, and hermetically sealed low-iron glass. So a solar panel can never be 25 cents, any more than a double-pane glass window can be 25 cents.
That said, I reckon panel prices will drop some 20-25 percent in 2009.
Building solar panel assemblies is labor extensive and the start up production equipment necessary to manufacture the actual component panels is also very expensive – given this and the comparatively low demand vs. other electronic devises is what determines the end price.
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In 1960, $1000 may not even have bought 1 watt of solar cells, but today, 1 watt (a fraction of a cell) costs about $4. So prices have come down.
The difference between solar panels and IC’s are that solar panels have a lot of raw material, and IC’s have very small. The material cost (not counting processing) of an IC may be just a few cents, but a solar panel has a significant amount of silicon, not to mention an aluminum frame, and hermetically sealed low-iron glass. So a solar panel can never be 25 cents, any more than a double-pane glass window can be 25 cents.
That said, I reckon panel prices will drop some 20-25 percent in 2009.
References :
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