Prices Fall, Capacity Rises: A Sneak Peak For Solar in 2010
As the solar industry readies itself for this week’s Solar Power International conference in Anaheim, Calif., we thought we’d take a look at the roller-coaster financials many of the companies have seen in the past year. First, there is one overriding trend: Over the last decade, the cost of solar generation hardware has dropped by nearly a third.
In large part, this change can be attributed to cheaper labor costs as more contractors learned faster, more efficient installation techniques. As startup loans paid themselves back and solar gained some traction, marketing and overhead also decreased. The real kicker, though, came last year when prices dropped a record 4 percent. This happened because increasing production capacity and decreased costs collided with a crashing economy and its accompanying depressed demand.
This decrease in costs largely nullified inflation as far as purchase cost is concerned. According to research conducted by several industry watchdogs, the cost of installed photovoltaic systems went from $10.80 per watt in 1998 to $7.50 per watt in 2008.
