On average, electric bills have increased over 7% each year during the last 20 years. Solar Panels have also come a long way during those twenty years as people search for alternative energy sources.

There are several factors that now play a part in determining the value a solar system has for a home or business. First, you must consider the size solar system that you would need. Just like you need a bigger garage door in your home to handle more cars, the larger your electric bill, the larger the solar system you will need. But, it doesn’t stop there. While that determines the size in kilowatt hours that would you need, it’s not the only factor that determines what the cost will be.

Solar prices have dropped recently for several reasons. First, the prices for the components have come down, and that’s a good thing. Second, there are tax credits and local incentives available that will help you pay for the cost of a system. There is currently a 30% federal tax credit good through the year 2016 that you can claim when you purchase a system. Of course, you need to have a tax liability in that amount or greater to claim it, but most people don’t have a problem meeting that. Other incentives are usually found with the local utility companies. Last year, in Nevada, NV Energy offered unusually large rebates for non-profit organizations and when combined with the federal tax credit – it didn’t cost the organization a penny – it was FREE. For homeowners the utility rebate for solar was quite a bit less. The rebate would cover about 25% of the cost for a solar installation. But, again, when combined with the federal tax credit, about 55% the cost of a system was paid for.

Now, as much as I would love to say that all these rebates are still available, most aren’t. Throughout California and Nevada the rebates were exhausted, quite literally, within hours of opening the application process online. But, don’t worry, there’s good news. Most utilities are gearing up for another round of rebates. When you factor that 55% the cost of solar can be paid for through these incentives, and you factor in the $1500-$2000 a year in electric savings you have, you can see very clearly how solar quickly pays for itself.

The clip bellow shows the best parts of the documentary Here comes the sun and is well worth taking a look at:

Greenecon.net reports:

According to the Energy Information Administration, in 1956 solar PV panels were $300 per watt, and in 1980, the average cost per solar modules was $27/watt and has fallen precipitously to approximately $2/watt in October 2009.

New breakthroughs point towards much cheaper solar panels in the near future (examples of this can be read about here, here or here), and with the emergence of nanotechnology, which already is underway, it’s reasonable to expect many new breakthroughs. But exactly when will solar energy become cheaper than conventional energy?

Solar cells are getting more and more efficient. The graph shows the best research-cell efficiencies for different types of solar cells measured in how much of the sunlight they can convert into electricity.

Ray Kurzweil, a famous inventor and futurists, predicts that this will happen within 2013. Dispatches from the Frozen North, a blog by the Peter Leppik, makes a calculation that leads him to think that in Minneapolis solar panels will be cheaper than power from the electric company in 2015, give or take a few years. Solarcentury, the UK’s largest solar company, predicts that in Britain solar energy will become cheaper or as cheap as conventional nonrenewable electricity by 2013. These are all uncertain predictions, and when it will become cheaper for you depends on where you live. But as far as I know most experts think that solar power will become cheaper than conventional energy in the near future – probably before 2020. And after that it will continue to become cheaper and cheaper. It’s a question of time before solar energy will be half the price of fossil fuels, one fifth the price, one tenth the price, etc.

Needless to say cheap solar energy will not just be good for the environment, but will also give other enormous benefits to society. And in many ways it will be more convenient than power from the grid. We will have to transport the energy less, and mobile phones, laptops, electric cars, etc. will be able to reload their batteries when they are outside in daylight. Another great thing about solar power is that it can provide cheap electricity to poor countries (in sub-Saharan Africa, etc.) where the power supply is unreliable and many villages aren’t connected to an electric grid.

Earths city lights at night. Cheap solar power can help light up poor parts of the world, where many villages aren't connected to a grid.

Making solar power cheaper and more convenient isn’t just about getting better at converting sunlight into electricity. Storing the energy is also a part of the challenge. Breakthroughs are underway in this area (examples of this can be found here and here), and batteries are generally getting better, so there is reason to be fairly optimistic. That being said, the future of solar energy would be very, very bright even if energy-storing technology didn’t get better at all.

Despite of being fantastic in a lot of ways, cheap solar energy isn’t enough by itself to completely solve the energy-problem. We also have to make sure that fueling your car on solar power is cheaper and easier than using gasoline. Although maybe not within the run of this decade, I also think that electric cars will dominate the roads sooner then we think. But this post is long enough already, so I will save that for a later update.

Also published on howisearth.wordpress.com.

SunPower has been chosen to construct the three solar plants in the state of Florida. Howard Wenger, senior vice president, global business units for SunPower, said that “these agreements confirm the growing trend in the U.S. to build solar power plants at a scale rivaling those in market-leading countries such as Germany and Spain.”

The largest of the three plants will be connected with a natural gas plant and have an effect of 75-megawatt and will be placed in Martin County on the East Coast. In DeSoto County the largest solar plant in USA will be located with an effect of 25-megawatt. The third 10-megawatt plant will be placed at the Kennedy Space Center.

What is the Solar Energy?

This video is an amazing guide, to understand the source of the Solar energy.

So why are we using fossil fuel… big oil money? yes you may use it in class.

Solar energy Technology breakthrough!

Good news from Israelis Scientists.

Made in Germany | Solar Technology as an Export Hit

The price of a barrel of Brent Crude oil from the North Sea has risen by 50 percent this year. That in turn raises the price of driving a car – and of manufacturing. So solar power is becoming relatively affordable.

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