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DC7 | 11-21-2006 03:31 PM
Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket There is a global shortage of poly-crystaline silicon, projected to last at least five years. It is estimated that in 2007-2009 the shortage will be 9000 tons a year. Polysilicon prices have doubled in the past twenty months and are projected to increase 30% a year for the next three years. Recent prices have been as high as $500 a kilogram, 500% higher than 2004. Solar power may not be cost effective compared to other technologies again until 2018. Soource of information: November 21 issue of Financial Times.

Scorpio | 11-21-2006 03:33 PM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Thanks DC, Have you heard if that has already filtered through to retail, and if so, does that make conversions uneconomical on projects of scale? TIA

HVACTEC | 11-21-2006 03:58 PM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket what company makes that , is there one on the u.s. market I can invest in. sounds like a good thing to invest in:smile: found this ;ink on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycrystalline_silicon

Veritas | 11-21-2006 04:02 PM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Quote:
Originally Posted by HVACTEC (Post 422512) what company makes that , is there one on the u.s. market I can invest in. sounds like a good thing to invest in:smile: found this ;ink on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycrystalline_silicon
...exactly what I was thinking. I'm going to research.

HVACTEC | 11-21-2006 04:26 PM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Most of the major polysilicon suppliers maintain affiliations with wafer suppliers, ranging from partial or complete ownership to informal alliances. This is not surprising given the importance of polysilicon to the production of wafers. Historically, many of the wafer suppliers produced polysilicon captively to ensure a steady supply. Major suppliers of polysilicon are Advanced Silicon Materials Inc. (North America, acquired by Renewable Energy Corporation), Hemlock Semiconductor (North America), MEMC Electronic Materials (North America), Mitsubishi Materials Polycrystalline Silicon (North America), Tokuyama Corporation (Japan) and Wacker (Germany). Electronic Materials inc. symbol is WFR HERES THE LINK TO WHAT IS ABOVE SEMI - Market Information GLW looks like good one, here is the link corning http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/02/mark..._glw/index.htm

decebal | 11-23-2006 04:00 AM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket i don't know where i heard this maybe on tv in the last couple of days there is a company who makes solar panels with only half the amount of silicon i forgot the name of the company unfortunatlly. there is research in non-silicon alternatives aswell

uranian | 11-23-2006 09:43 AM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Quote:
Originally Posted by decebal (Post 423995) there is research in non-silicon alternatives aswell
i've seen mention of that too, it's using copper rather than silicon i think. there is some german company doing research into this...i'll try to dig out a link i think i saved.

uranian | 11-23-2006 10:05 AM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket seems like copper is the main alternative to silicon for solar cells. or Copper indium gallium selenide, to be more precise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovo...bing_materials this is a company in germany about to produce CIS cells this way (due to production in about 2 months, i read elsewhere)

longjohnsilver | 11-23-2006 10:08 AM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Posted about three weeks ago on GIM: Solar Power Made Affordable By Shannara Johnson In a speech this year, President Bush said we'd have to get rid of "our addiction to Middle East oil." Now one man in South Africa seems to have taken a big step in that direction�at least when it comes to heating homes. A team of scientists led by Professor Vivian Alberts of the University of Johannesburg announced a huge breakthrough in solar technology early this year: They developed solar panels that can provide heat and electricity for a whole house�at a fraction of the cost of conventional solar devices. "In a perfect world," explains an article in Science in Africa, an online science magazine, "a silicon-based photo voltaic cell can convert roughly 25% of the incipient solar energy it receives into electricity. . . the rest of the solar radiation is either too high or too low intensity to do anything. In reality, only 15% (under optimal conditions) of incipient solar energy is harnessed by the cell." With Professor Alberts' invention, this output becomes much larger. Whereas a typical solar panel uses silicon slabs more than 350 microns thick because of its poor absorption properties, the new panels, which contain no silicon, operate with a 5-micron film�a quarter of the thickness of a human hair. They use normal window glass and are much more efficient than the old panels; so much so that they don't even require direct sunlight to produce significant power. The panels based on this alloy will have a working life of about 20 years. Through a special converter, energy can be fed directly into the wiring of the house. And with a price that will be less than a third of a normal solar panel, gaining power from sunlight will become a viable option for many more homeowners than it is now. "With batteries, invertors and power management systems. . . the system will pay itself off in about 1 year," states Science in Africa. "For a more energy-thirsty system, it would take about 2 to 3 years and after that, a household would be looking at 17 years of just about free energy." The South Africans plan to begin manufacturing the new, inexpensive panels in 2007. However, their German partner company, IFE Solar Systems, one of the world leaders in solar energy, has already started and will produce 500,000 panels before the end of this year.

Alpine5654 | 11-23-2006 03:13 PM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Just went to IFE Solar Systems website, it's all in German. Does anyone know of an English website?

Gray Ghost | 11-23-2006 10:49 PM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket I just visited the German IFE website and if you click English in the upper right hand corner of the website you will see the website in English. Here is the linkhttp://www.ife-net.de/en/index.php Their latest news release which is in PDF format talks about the thin film solar. The new technology which is based on copper, indium, gallium, sulfide and selenium (CIGSSe) is the next generation of thin film solar technology. I hope this helps.:coolbeer:

R MacDonald | 11-24-2006 01:32 AM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Quote:
Originally Posted by decebal (Post 423995) i don't know where i heard this maybe on tv in the last couple of days there is a company who makes solar panels with only half the amount of silicon i forgot the name of the company unfortunatlly. there is research in non-silicon alternatives aswell
They are Solar Intensifiers... http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au/ http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au...ndTracking.jpg

Alpine5654 | 11-24-2006 01:51 PM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Quote:
Originally Posted by Gray Ghost (Post 424443) I just visited the German IFE website and if you click English in the upper right hand corner of the website you will see the website in English. Here is the linkhttp://www.ife-net.de/en/index.php Their latest news release which is in PDF format talks about the thin film solar. The new technology which is based on copper, indium, gallium, sulfide and selenium (CIGSSe) is the next generation of thin film solar technology. I hope this helps.:coolbeer:
Thanks! I was at a different site, this one works better :beer:

Halophyte | 11-24-2006 03:55 PM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Thin Film Solar has a much shorter service life than crystaline panels, not as durable, can't handle the heat. But if it is water cooled .... ?

DC7 | 12-05-2006 06:29 AM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Hey all, I'm looking at buying 3 solar panels 15 watts ea = 45 watts for $200. A 400 watt inverter will be $25. I want to have at least something for an emergency even if it's only 45 watts. I'm buying from Harbor Freight. Usually they seem to have the cheapest prices but everything always seems to be generic lower quality equipment. Advice please before I go ahead? Are prices going up or down? Are cheap panels a mistake? Thanks!

hoarder | 12-05-2006 07:14 AM
Re: Solar Equipment Prices to Skyrocket Quote:
Originally Posted by DC7 (Post 435199) Hey all, I'm looking at buying 3 solar panels 15 watts ea = 45 watts for $200. A 400 watt inverter will be $25. I want to have at least something for an emergency even if it's only 45 watts. I'm buying from Harbor Freight. Usually they seem to have the cheapest prices but everything always seems to be generic lower quality equipment. Advice please before I go ahead? Are prices going up or down? Are cheap panels a mistake? Thanks!
As a general rule solar panels are $5 a watt. I would NOT buy the Harbor Freight panels though. Almost half the merchandise I've purchased from them I've had to return. All very poor quality Chinese stuff. Instead, search "solar" in Greensheet and ebay. Nothing wrong with buying used brand name panels. Watch out, they sell fast!

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