# Solar Cell prices declining 15% per year



## ElectriCar (Jun 15, 2008)

Since 2008, solar cells price per watt has dropped from $3to $1. With Duke Energy rates in South Carolina, my payback for one system I priced would be around 11 years. Not sure if the price included rebates or not. If not then it would pay for itself much quicker. 

I'm 48 now so I'm not too keen on spending $12-15000 right now but if I were a few years younger I'd jump all over it, especially since I'm a contractor and can install it myself. However with solar prices dropping like they are, it apparently will be more affordable in another year or three. Of course it'll have to decline faster than I'm getting older! So far it has!

With utility companies increasing rates to comply with the government driven guidelines on coal fired generation, it's now practical for young people in particular to invest in their own Solar Electric generating system. 

The recent EPAct mandated that ALL utility companies support Net Metering thus eliminating the need for storage batteries, one expensive part of older systems. This simply means they have to purchase your excess energy created when you're not at home at the same rate they charge you. Basically your excess electricity is put back into the grid forcing your meter to deduct what you generated from what you used the night before. 

Just thought I'd pass along this info.


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

It's great to see it coming down, and it's not just the price per watt. 5 years ago the cheapest panels were around $4/watt, and they were 6% efficient. Eventually those came down to just under $1/watt, then disappeared as the newer ones took over.

The cheapest ones I'm aware of now are around $1.20-1.30/watt, but these are the 18% efficient panels. So not only will you save 70% off your panel price, but you'll also save 66% on your roof space, which I assume should also mean the installation costs would be about half what they were (that part might not be true, however).

This is all a double edged sword for early adopters, however, as if you're looking at a 10-15 year payback, and prices are falling at around 20% per year, you can simply wait (and save up) for 3-5 years and then have a payback time of 5-7 years.

At what point will the payoff be quicker for jumping in than for sitting and waiting?


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