adatynu.wordpress.com
The Foster City-based solar installer is the first and only residentiall installer to getthe long-term contractd to buy directly from , the world’s largesrt thin film solar panel And while some say thin film doesn’t make sense for small SolarCity says otherwise. “Eveb in this market that’s dramatically reducef on traditionalcrystalline (solar panel) prices, First Solaer wins hands down,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive.
Thin film solar is cheaper to produce than traditionalk photovoltaic panels ona cost-per-watt But it’s less meaning it takes one-third more to twice as many panelxs to create the same amountg of electricity as traditional silicon-basedf solar panels. That means it requirews more roof space to create the same amounrof electricity, and that’s not always SolarCity is so far the only residential solat installer in First Solar’s 18-strong customerr list.
It took the Foster City-based installer two years to convince First Solar to sell its panels tothe “We have long-term, high-volume contracts with our and we work with them,” said First Solar spokeswomahn Lisa Morse. “We really are partner s with our customers, and that’s importangt for us because to really be able to lower the cost you need to be ableto scale.” Now that SolarCity has locked in 100 megawattsw of panels, Rive said thin film panels will make up 60 percentr of the installations the companhy will do this year. The companyt already has done installations inSan Rafael, San Matek and other Bay Area cities.
Thin film benefitsz include producing solar electricity in lower light s and maintaining efficiency in hotter temperatures compared with traditional silicon solar But some have questionec if thin film is really better especially for homerooftops — given the larger surfacr area it requires and the falling cost of traditional panels. Thin film modulee were much cheaper than traditionak moduleslast year. But the price of silicomn dropped as more supply came onlin e just as a globalrecession hit, driving down If silicon drops any more, it could erase thin film’s pricde advantage. Thin film also addresses one of the main reasonapeople don’t install solar on their aesthetics.
“Thin film is a frameless sheet of If you put it onyour roof, it lookx like a skylight so it’sd very pleasing to the eye,” Rive said. Still, not everyones is convinced that thin film is readgy for thebroad market. “I struggle to understand how aproduct that’s half as efficient can be deployedc in a space-constrained, residential said Rob Erlichman, CEO of San Francisco-based , which developd commercial solar projects and hasn’t used thin
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment