Go Solar Power For Homes

 

Here’s some positive news. The price for solar panels is falling. This is great news for  people looking to introduce solar power for homes.

Analyst Nathaniel Bullard of research firm New Energy Finance recently announced that “The era of extremely expensive (solar) modules is over.”

Prices for rooftop solar power for homes systems, including installation, already have fallen by nearly 10% since October and the signs are that these prices will drop by a further 15% to 20% this year. That is a staggering drop in price.

The reason for this is that, following credit bubble bursting globally, there has been less of a demand for solar panels than was expected. As fewer people were buying the equipment for installing solar power for homes, so a massive oversupply in worldwide manufacturing capacity has occurred. The impact of this is being felt particularly in Spain and Germany, the two main growth engines for the industry.

If things are tough for European manufacturers, the good news is that homeowners, especially  in the U.S., are likely to enjoy even better price reductions in the near future. It is expected, because of the federal tax credit that took effect January 1, that U.S. consumer prices will plunge by as much as 50% or more. 

Since 2004, prices for solar panels had been pushed up by the shortage of capacity to make both the silicon (the raw material on which most solar panels are based) and the finished panels themselves. The basic economic law applies – where supply is greater than demand, so the price rises. When there is more supply than is needed, so the price drops.

It has been suggested that there is an oversupply in the U.S. marketplace of nearly 4 gigawatts of solar modules in 2009. If that surplus were released all at once that would create enough electricity to supply 2.6 million homes. So what we have here is  a glut of solar technology.

The impact for manufacturers is not good. Prices are already falling. SunPower, one of the largest solar makers in the U.S., is expecting its retail price for installed systems to drop by as much as 20% this year. since October, Akeena Solar, one of America’s largest installers have already dropped their wholesale prices by about 15%.

As a consumer however, you want to know that this will pull the overall price down, but, because there is still the cost of installation to pay for, (generally this equates to about half the cost of the solar power for homes system), so your total cost will actually drop by an average of roughly 8%.

Until recently, people buying solar power for homes systems could get tax credits that could cut solar power for homes system prices by as much as 30%. Then, suddenly, that credit was capped at $2,000. As you may recall, when President Bush announced his U.S. bail-out, Congress was able to renew the 30% credit while also removing the cap. This act, in one fell swoop, literally cut thousands more dollars off the total cost for your solar power for homes. (We like that!)

As an example, consider the case of California. Nearly 70% of all U.S. solar power for homes purchases are made in California. Here, a typical 4-kilowatt, $32,000 solar power for homes system, after state and federal incentives, cost the homeowner about $23,000 last year. In 2009 however, if prices keep following their downward route as expected, that selfsame solar power for homes system is likely to cost between $10,000 to $12,000.

Whoever said that a recession gives the consumer even more buying power was absolutely correct. Nowhere is this the case than with solar power for homes, right here, right now. In short, there has never been a better time to invest in solar power for homes.

from Sam Deane,
your solar power for homes guide,
at www dot go solar power for homes dot com

PS. I thank you for your time and interest and hope you enjoyed this article. If so, please take the time to Digg, Stumble Upon or add to the other social network of your choice to help us spread the word about these issues.

                                                           
                                                                 Visit Our Go Solar Power For Homes
                                                                 All-New Homes & Gardens Solar Store!

 

                         Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS Feed!

 

Info via: usatoday Pic via: iStockPhoto

This Trackback by Sam Deane, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

 

 Mail this post

Popularity: unranked [?]

Technorati Tags: home solar energy, solar energy panels, solar panels cost, solar power for homes, solar power house