
http://optics.org/news/2/2/22
The average US household needs an average of 2 kilowatts (50 kilowatts per day) so the construction cost for their entire household energy use (assuming 50% power generation from their panels for 12 hours a day) for the panels would be only $5,840.25 Feb 2011
Leading photovoltaic module manufacturer is also making inroads into China and India as it looks to diversify geographically.
Global PV demand
First Solar sold CdTe photovoltaic modules capable of producing a peak power of 1.4 GW in 2010, up 27% on the previous year as the wider solar market doubled in size.
The US-headquartered company, which has production facilities around the world, managed to further reduce the cost of solar electricity during the year.
This is thanks partly to an increase in the average efficiency of the modules that it produces – First's CEO Rob Gillette said that the average module conversion efficiency has increased from 11.1% in late 2009 to 11.6% now, thanks to recent changes made to its fabrication processes. He added that the company aimed to make further efficiency improvements of about 0.5% per year.
Gillette added that the cost per watt (peak) of making those modules now stands at $0.73, down from $0.80 a year ago, equivalent to a 9% reduction.
For the closing quarter of 2010, the company posted total sales of $610 million, down sequentially due to the timing of some large contracts, but for the full fiscal year sales were close to $2.6 billion – up 24% on 2009 and indicative of the boom experienced by the wider market.
The German solar market was rampant during 2010, and accounted for just under half of First’s revenues. But with reduced feed-in tariffs in the country and a good deal of uncertainty across the rest of Europe, First is working hard to diversify its markets – with a good deal of success. The company is engaged in some of the biggest photovoltaic projects planned for the US and is also making a mark in Asia, where it has signed significant deals in both China and India recently.
Those deals include a 30 MW project with China Guangdong Nuclear, and a pair of module supply agreements for a combined 40 MW with ACME and Moser Baer in India.
That's crazy! So if you used that for 20 years, the cost per month is 24 dollars.