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How much money is needed to build SOLAR ENERGY SYSTEM?

Posted by admin on Nov-18-2009

How much money does it need to build SOLAR PANEL (solar energy system)?
I read this article on good things about solar energy.
and it said ‘Solar panel construction has advanced significantly in the last 20 years and can withstand almost any weather condition. It is not even that expensive since technology has advanced so much that panel cost has been reduced significantly.’

So i was wondering how much does it actually cost now :) thnxxx

It depends.
A small one is $10 and one to keep a big house supplied with power can be more than $50000

Posted in: how to build solar panels
  1. John B Said,

    Here is your answer:
    http://www.findsolar.com/

    For rebates from your state go here:
    http://www.dsireusa.org/
    References :

  2. JoJo♥ Said,

    It depends.
    A small one is $10 and one to keep a big house supplied with power can be more than $50000
    References :

  3. MTRstudent Said,

    The useful number you need is the cost per Watt-peak, or how many dollars you need to pay to get a certain power output of solar panels.

    In 1998 it was $10.80. In 2007 it was $7.30. That’s a drop of about 30%, which is better than fossil fuels iirc.

    However, that’s pretty slow progress. Luckily things are picking up now. Most panels in the past use silicon, which isn’t optimal for solar power (we used it because we were used to making silicon semiconductors for computers etc). Modern ‘thin film’ technologies like Cadmium-Telluride (’CdTe’) and Copper-Indium-Gallium-(di)Selenide (’CIGS’) are much cheaper.

    FirstSolar has built a CdTe power station at about $3.50 per watt peak, 50% cheaper than silicon! It now costs them $0.85 to produce 1Wp of solar panels at the factory, all the other cost is transporting, installing, wires, inverters etc.
    http://www.firstsolar.com/company_overview.php

    To get an idea of the cost for a solar system, multiply the Watts by the dollars per watt peak. A typical home system might be 4kW, so in silicon it would cost $30,000. If First Solar did systems for the home, it would be closer to $15,000.
    References :

  4. jidinphilly Said,

    First, let me start out by saying that I own a solar company. http://www.sunpowernation.com . Secondly, to answer your question, you have to answer a couple of questions. What is your electric bill per month on average? How much southern facing roof space do you have?

    The average sized system, 4.6 kw, will offset about $130 of your electric bill. My cost is $9 per watt. That includes panels, inverters, racking, Lightning arresters, and labor.

    Everybody gets a 30% federal tax credit. The state rebate depends on the state you live in. I’ll use NJ as an example since that is where my company is. NJ’s rebate is $1.75 per watt. 4.6 kw(4,600 watts) is equal to $8,050. The federal tax credit on that example is $10,005. In NJ, we have solar renewable energy certificates or SREC’s. That means that every time your system PRODUCES 1 megawatt (1,000 Kw’s) of power, you get a certificate. In NJ, a SREC is worth $500. A 4.6 kw system produces 5.75 SREC’s per year. 5.75 x’s $500 = $2875. So, you get more than half of your money back in the first year.

    In NJ, solar systems pay for themselves in under 5 years. The SREC’s can be sold for a total of 15 years. If you have any questions, contact me at http://www.sunpowernation.com .
    References :
    http://www.sunpowernation.com

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