PV Gap

Delores Said:

Why solar panel are so expensive?, low demand?

We Answered:

In 1960, $1000 may not even have bought 1 watt of solar cells, but today, 1 watt (a fraction of a cell) costs about $4. So prices have come down.

The difference between solar panels and IC's are that solar panels have a lot of raw material, and IC's have very little. The material cost (not counting processing) of an IC may be just a few cents, but a solar panel has a significant amount of silicon, not to mention an aluminum frame, and hermetically sealed low-iron glass. So a solar panel can never be 25 cents, any more than a double-pane glass window can be 25 cents.

That said, I think panel prices will drop some 20-25 percent in 2009.

Lucille Said:

List of new solar panel manufactures?

We Answered:

There are literally over 200 solar panel start-ups with more and more popping up almost daily.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/r…

If you are looking for information on some of the larger already established manufacturers, I would recommend checking each manufacturer's individual website. You can find out who some of these companies are by checking any solar panel retailer/distributor's website like here...

http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Pan…

-Dave C.