Nanosolar is just printing the cells ! Great new cheap solarcells coming !

[DrLobo]

UPDATE: They´re already selling the cells and they´re actually sold out for the next 12 months!

Has anybody bought any?

What´s the price per watt?

I want them!!!

[capthook]

Nanosolar is promising.  Current 'standard panel' (silicon based) costs have dropped to about $8 a watt.  A basic 2KW home system currently runs about $18,000 + install ($21,000 total).  So that's $16,000 in panels and $2,000 in BOS (balance of system) costs.
And that size system will only generate about 50% of the avg. U.S. households daily consumption.
 
At $.12 a KW current electricity costs and average annual consumption:

25KW per day x 365 = 9,125 KW x $.12 = $1095 annual electric bill
Now replace 50% of that with a $21,000 2KW system: $550 annual pv production
$21,000/$550 = 42 years to pay the system off to break-even.
However - this figure doesn't account for possible electricity price increases in the future - but they have been relatively stable.
Figure 35 years.
BUT if you can take advantage of a Federal/State incentives - you can reduce that to maybe 25 years payoff time. (depends on the state)

If the $1 a watt is realized - this WOULD open up the solar industry to the many who can't come up with the large $$ outlay now - only to take 25-30 years to recoup the investment.

$1 a watt would translate into the same system costing: $9,000
Half the cost and half the break-even time.
10-15 years to recoup your costs - and then 15 years of free, stable power makes it very appealing.

As has been mentioned - the Nanosolar panels are low efficiency - requiring a larger area of panels installed.  This is not an option readily available in many places: apartments, low-sun horizons etc.
And just what their panels specs is hard to say:

"Technical Data Sheet? We presently share product data sheets only under Non-Disclosure Agreement with qualified volume customers. This is so we can extend the period of protection for certain proprietary features we have developed."

There are several other companies pursing the same type of process that have stated production in the next 2-3 yrs.

http://www.avasolar.com/  is an example.

All in all - the future is looking brighter all the time for solar.  But the watt/meter still needs to increase and the durability of these new panels hasn't been tested for extended periods.

And the sun still shines only 1/2 the time.  And without net-metering, storing that electricity is inefficient and expensive.

The U.S. has implemented mandatory net-metering rules in all states effective next year.
The problem is - their isn't a firm definition of 'net-metering'.
Many states are implementing a 'Time of use' structure - meaning your electric bill could actually go UP after spending $20,000 on a solar!
We ran the numbers.....
Hopefully this will be addressed in the future.  But at the pace the US Congress moves... in could take at least 5 or 10 more years!!!

Other links:
http://www.daystartech.com/  another CIGS/film
http://www.sunpowercorp.com/Default.aspx  the best rated silicon panels
http://www.sunwize.com/catalog/index.htm   a provider with a good catalogue of complete systems
http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/index.htm   another thin-film
http://www.dsireusa.org/  a database of U.S. Federal and State solar incentives

[pese]

If the people PAY this prized
it is not need to produce cheaper one.
The sens of energy (and other producers) is,
to earn money, solong it is possibel.
/that is an normal human thinking(?)/

Other invention will not receive any help
to offer that devices

GP

[ResinRat2]

Controlled introduction of solar into the US market advised:

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/feeding-in-renewable-energy-breakthroughs-5556.html

That means the average consumer will NEVER benefit from solar as it is slowly introduced into the marketplace in a controlled manner by the Government. This keeps control of profits as well.

quoted in the article: "Setting an initial feed-in rate at $0.15 per killowatt hour for 20 years for solar projects..."

How about that. A twenty year price control.

[Leno]

http://konarka.com       We're coming