How can we make using solar panals more affordable?
Question:
p.s.
even though i think solar panels should be mandatory and cost nothing to have them installed.
Answer:
I agree we definitely need everyone to switch to solar panels i think people should just fork out the money to pay for them because in the long run it will save them tons of money!
Also i think stores should stop selling the regular light bulbs and only sell the ones that use less energy.
The economic reality is that if they were free they would be too expensive. The problem is their efficiency in converting light to electricity. Much too low right now. The current research realizes that and is working on more efficient, not cheaper. The cost of just putting them up, converting the low voltage DC to something that we can use, storing it somehow, and all that practical stuff just swamps the cost of the cells. So, hope for better efficiency.
As for efficient lights, the choice now is still ugly -- save some energy and do something about the mercury content of the florescents. But, on the horizon, there comes something called "white leds". Already in some flashlights and such, the manufacturers are working like mad to make them bright enough to start replacing both incandescent and florescent. Don't know the environmental effects of their manufacture yet. Nothing good seems to come without some warts.
There are a number of reasons why solar panels are as expensive as they are. In a relative sense, the price of solar has come down just because of the economics of it just like any other technology(State and Federal rebates help to make systems cheaper too). But, this is a double edged sword because even though silicon, the primary material for solar panels, is one of the most abundant elements on the planet earth, the silicon must be processed to make "solar grade silicon". Currently, there are only a few companies that have the ability to process the silicon to make the right grade of materials(which is a very expensive operation), so people producing modules are at the mercy of these processors whom are currently being pushed to capacity because of the huge growth(demand for solar wafers) in recent years. Moreover, this is one of the primary reasons for the current high price of solar modules( because of the issue of a shortage of solar grade silicon) high demand low supply. There is hope though. Silicon processors are ramping up their production to meet the demands caused by a spike in the industry, and people are experimenting with other ways to produce solar grade silicon that are more economical, and have a lower startup cost then the traditional method. So the industry should be able to catch up with demand in the next 2-3 years and the cost of this technology will once again start to go down.. P.S. Some countries in Europe have made solar mandatory on new buildings that are built.
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