Thin Film
July 6, 2011
New Solar Panels and New Scientific Breakthroughs in Solar Technology it seems are reported every month.But Solar Energy is still not competitive with Fossil Fuel Energy despite its obvious advantages.The costs of Solar Energy are declining quickly but they remain still some way from being on par with the dirty forms of energy like Coal.The reason for all these new exciting technologies which are reported in newspaper not being able to bring a fundamental change in the energy scenario is that the costs are too high.Bringing a new solar panel technology from the lab to the factory takes a lot of time and effort.During this time the incumbent technology like crystalline solar technology keeps advancing due to the massive global R&D dollars that are spend and the rising scale.This had made many new startups in solar technology like Solyndra ,Spectrawatt and others bite the dust.You can read about the large number of solar failures in the first wave of thin film solar bankruptcies .
July 6, 2011
A solar array can be defined as solar panels arranged in a group to capture maximum amount of sun light to convert it into usable electricity. The idea of Solar Array came into being when it was conceived that the power produced by a solar panels singly was not sufficient for domestic or commercial purpose. Many such solar modules are linked together to form a Solar Array. Solar panels can be arranged differently to form different patterns to suit ones purpose. Depending upon what the need is, different structures can be build. Generally there are two traditional styles of solar energy panels used in residential and industrial areas -photovoltaic and photothermal energy. Most solar arrays to date have been a mixture of these two. Because it is relatively low-tech, solar arrays are a very cost effective approach for people who believe in DIY technology.
July 6, 2011
Solar Shingles are niche solar products meant for use on roofs of houses.There are not a lot of manufacturers of solar shingles as they are a new product and more difficult to install than standard silicon solar panels.Solar Shingles are manufactured by mainly American companies like Dow,Energy Conversion Devices.Their high costs and lack of easy availability has meant that solar shingles have not really caught the imagination of the customers.Also Solar Shingles do not get any added subsidy from the government vis a vis Solar Panels.Thus the higher prices of electricity generated from solar shingles means that they have become a poorer cousin of the mainstream Solar Panels.Also Solar Integrators are more accustomed to buying and installing solar panels which makes it even more difficult to push the sale of solar shingles.
July 6, 2011
Solar Tracker is a Device which follows the movement of the sun as it rotates from the east to the west every day.Solar Trackers are used to keep solar collectors/solar panels oriented directly towards the sun as it moves through the sky every day.Using Solar Trackers increases the amount of solar energy which is recieved by the solar energy collector and improves the energy output of the heat/electricity which is generated.Solar Trackers can increase the output of Solar Panels by 20-30% which improves the economics of the solar panel project.
Solar Trackers are mostly used in ground mounted solar farms of capacity more than 1 MW.Note it is difficult to use solar trackers on residential rooftop installations.Horizontal single axis trackers are typically used for large distributed generation projects and utility scale projects. The combination of energy improvement and lower product cost and lower installation complexity results in compelling economics in large deployments.However for solar ground plants where area is not a problem,solar trackers can be easily be used.Also commercial and utility solar projects have dedicated maintainance teams which can easily repair and monitor solar trackers.The 20-30% increase in output easily compensates for the higher costs associated with solar trackers.Note Solar Trackers are especially useful in case of places where the solar insolation is high and the efficiency of the solar panels being used are high.Sunpower which makes the highest efficiency solar panels uses Solar Trackers in most of its ground mounted plants and sells solar trackers under its own brand.These days solar trackers are becoming increasingly important and major solar panel manufacturers like First Solar and Trina Solar are selling solar trackers as well.The selection of tracker type is dependent on many factors including installation size, electric rates, government incentives, land constraints, latitude, and local weather.
July 6, 2011
Solar Frontier is a Japanese company which was earlier known as Showa Shell Solar .The company joined the rank of major solar companies once it started the new 900MW “Kunitomi” production plant in Miyazaki.Note only is the company started big in production,it is rapidly signing deals around the globe in India,Middle East and America..The Company has recently signed Two Deals with 2 Global Heavyweights GE and IBM.It has signed a distribution deal with GE to sells its Copper Indium Selenide (CIS) Panels in USA while GE would provides the Balance of Systems components like inverters etc.It next signed a deal with IBM to jointly develop Copper Zinc Tin Sulfure Selenium (CZTS) Thin Film Technology.Note IBM is one of the biggest Technology Innovators and Solar Frontier has a long Thin Film History.
July 6, 2011
What is a Solar Cell
A solar cell is an electrical device that converts light energy directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect.Note Solar Cells can be made of many materials like Silicon,Cadmium Tellerium,CIGS and even on Organic Substrates.However almost 90% of the Solar Cells produced in the world currently are made of crystalline silicon.The drastic fall in prices of silicon solar cells has seen an explosive growth in demand with solar cell supply increasing by almost 50% per year in the last decade.
July 6, 2011
Solar Thin Film Technology has been growing rapidly despite falling costs of the mainstream Photovoltaic Crystalline Silicon Technology.While the current solar supply glut has resulted in some of the thin film solar film companies going out of business,big thin film suppliers continue with their growth plan.Solar Thin Film Technology is supposed to be the 2nd Generation successor to the mainstream Crystalline Silicon (c-Si) Technology which accounts for around 85% of world production.While a number of Weaker Hands in Thin Film have downed shutters,Thin Film Producers continue to grow and expand.The massive growth potential of Solar Energy makes it possible for both of these PV technologies to flourish.Thin Film Technology unlike c-Si has a number of variants.Amorphous Silicon (a-Si),Copper Indium Gallium Sulphide (CIGs) and Cadmium Tellurium (Cd-Te) are the 3 main types of Thin Film Technology.There are a number of manufacturers of all of these 3 types of Technology.CIGs Technology is said to have the most potential in improving efficiency and competing with c-Si,however Cd-Te is currently the top dog as the world’s biggest solar producer First Solar currently uses this technology.a-Si Technology is not that hot with low efficiencies however Oerlikon and Sharp are pushing ahead with developing this technology.
July 6, 2011
Kaneka is a Japanese company which is present in a number of product categories like chemicals,functional and expandable plastic products, foodstuffs, life science products and synthetic fibers.However the main focus of the company is in Thin Film Solar Panels.Kaneka has been developing amorphous silicon thin film technology since 1980 and has advanced manufacturing into developing higher efficiency tandem microcrystalline silicon solar panels.The company also sells transperant see through solar panels.Note Thin Film Technology is facing existential threat from the rapid price reduction in the mainstream crystalline silicon technology which comprises about 85% of the global solar panel market.Kaneka sells its solar modules under the HYBRID brand name which refers to its hybrid tandem thin film silicon technology.Note other companies like Sanyo,Mitsubishi.Oerlikon have also developed this form of technology which gives higher efficiency solar panels as it captures a bigger part of the solar spectrum.
July 6, 2011
Solar Power in Australia has grown massively in 2010 and 2011 driven by state feed in tariffs also known as the solar bonus scheme or solar credits.This has resulted in the capacity limits being reached and most of the state solar subsidy schemes have been withdrawn (see the current state feed-in-tariff schemes below).However the Australian federal government is still offering the Renewable Energy Credit Scheme under which solar power generated is eligible to get solar credits which can be solar in the open market for cash.This will still drive the use of solar energy as the falling prices of chinese solar panels has made solar energy near electricity price parity in a number of places.Australia which gets a lot of sunshine is ideal for solar energy which promotes climate change mitigation as well besides reducing pollution.Australia has the highest average solar radiation of any continent in the world, which means solar industry has the greatest potential.
July 6, 2011
Solar Panels are sold by hundreds of companies around the world ranging from small to very large and comes in various shapes and sizes as well.Besides this solar panels are also made of very different materials for example silicon solar panels and thin film solar panels.So comparing solar panels and choosing a solar panel is a very difficult process if you want the best solar panel according to your need.The most efficiency solar panels are needed in cases where the land area or rooftop area is at a premium.Note a typical 200-250 watt solar panel requires an area of 60x38 inches which means an area of around 2000 square inches.1 megawatt of solar panels would require an area of between 5-10 acres of land depending on the efficiency of the solar panels.However this can be reduced by using solar trackers which can increase the output of solar panels though they to increase the area requirement slightly.Also the area also depends on the location of the place since a place recieving high sunlight for example California would require lesser area for generating the same amount of electricity compared to London (upto 30% fewer solar panels).Note solar panels with higher efficiency have a higher price tag associated with them since they require higher cost to manufacture.The most efficiency solar panels which are used in spacecraft and have a efficiency of around 35-40% may cost upto 100 times more than the normal silicon solar panel.
July 6, 2011
Types of Solar Panels Explained (Amorphous,Polycrystalline,Monocrystalline with Efficiency) for Home
Types of Solar Panels have increased manifold with the surging global solar demand fueled by falling prices of solar panels/modules.Note Solar Panels prices would have fallen by around 75% in 3 years which is a record for any energy let alone solar energy.This has made Solar Electricity on par with Electricity prices in a number of places globally.The number of manufacturers of solar panels too has increased drastically particuarly in China and Asia.The range of technologies being used to made solar panels has also increased in tandem.However polyscrystalline silicon solar panels continues to be the king of solar panels accounting for a lion's share of solar panels produced globally (around 75% according to my estimates).Each Solar Panel Technology differs from others in terms of efficiency and price.They also differ in their electricity production capabilities depending on temperature.They also differ in weight and flexibility.The Sizes of Solar Panels are also quite different and different powered solar panels are required for different applications.For a small power need like charging a mobile phone only a 5-20 watt solar panel would do while for powering a solar house you would need a number of 200-300 watt solar panels.
July 6, 2011
The ET Solar Group was founded in 2007.The company is relatively small compared to the biggest solar panel producers like Yingli,Suntech as its capacity is one/fifth the size of these big panel producers.It is more comparable to small Chinese solar companies like CEEG Solar,Eging and Sunlink..ET Solar is a quasi vertically integrated solar equipment manufacturer with presence in Europe, North America and Australia. ET Solar iis not fully integrated like LDK,Yinglie which makes polysilicon as well.However it does make silicon ingot, wafer, cell, module and a variety of BoS component products. ET Solar offers high-quality modules, inverter, tracker, BIPV, PV Kit and other solar products in more than 50 countries and regions in the whole world. Worldwide more than 500MW projects are already finished.The company is not publicly listed but is funded from Private Equity Sources.In these tough conditions it is questionable whether ET Solar can survive as it is not a Tier 1 producer.ET Solar has a good presence in the UK and Australian Markets.However Australian Solar Power Industry has seen a number of solar panel producers entering the industry and there are good alternatives available from Trina and Suntech
July 6, 2011
Solar Panels are now available from hundreds of different manufacturers using different technologies like crystalline Silicion,CIGs and Cd-Te.The Solar Panels Efficiency also varies a lot depending on the solar panel manufacturer and the technology used.The cost of the solar panel can also vary a lot depending on the retailer,size of the solar panel,technology and the brand.This makes buying solar panels a confusing problem though most residential and commercial buyers are not involved leaving the decision to the solar installer/EPC company.Sunpower is a US company which makes the most efficient solar panels using its monocrystalline solar cell technology which gives efficiency of more than 24%.The company sells black solar panels with efficiency of 18-20% .The company is a solar system integrator and developer as well building some of the largest solar farms in the US.The company was recently bought by the French Oil Giant Total.Sunpower operates in all the main segments of the market and has reputation for selling some of the highest quality solar panels in the country.
July 6, 2011
First Solar is going to the biggest producer of solar panels in the world despite having a solar panel technology which differs from almost all of its competitors.First Solar Solar Panels use Cadmium-Tellurium Thin Film Solar Technology while the majority of the Solar Industry uses Crystalline Silicon Technology.Despite the difference First Solar is the most valued solar stock in the world and has been for a long time.Despite stiff competition from the silicon technology and most of the thin film companies going bankrupt,First Solar has managed to hold on cutting costs and improving yields continuously.In fact First Solar Solar Panels have the lowest cost of production in the world.First Solar Solar Panels efficiency has also increased in the last few years such that First Solar is now targeting commercial segments of the market.Note First Solar earlier used to sell solar panels mostly to developers and utilities to build ground mounted solar panel farms where the lower efficiency of the Cd-Te solar panels did not matter.The reason is that in large solar farms space and area constraints are not there unlike in rooftops where the space is a major issue.
July 6, 2011
Germany till a couple of years was the home of the biggest solar panel manufacturers in the world.This was driven mainly by the German Renewable Energy Law (EEG) which is the most successful renewable energy subsidy in the world.The German Solar Market has become the biggest in the world for the last 2-3 years and an estimated 25 GW of solar panels would have been installed in Germany.Capitalizing on a large domestic market a number of solar companies like Q-Cells,Solarworld,Solon and others became the biggest in the world.However the rise of the Chinese solar panel manufactures has made these companies shrink with some of them like Q-Cells facing questions of survival.The prices of the Chinese solar panels has become lower than the costs of the German made solar modules putting the economic viability of the German solar panels in question.Though the quality of the German made solar panels is higher and some of the best solar panels in the world are produced by the Germans,the price differential has meant that Chinese have captured almost 70% of the global solar panel market leaving little for the German solar panel companies.The Italian Feed in Tariff Law Contio Energia 3 has given somewhat of a boost to the German solar panel makers as it gives higher subsidies for solar projects,farms using European based modules.However German solar panel producers are in a secular decline with most of them shifting their factories to Asia.Q-Cells and Bosch have set up big solar manufacturing facilities in Malaysia while Solarworld is doing so in the US.Another Big European Solar Producer REC is closing its factories in Norway while expanding it in Singapore.
July 6, 2011
Solar Panels have decreased dramatically in cost from about $800 in 2008 for a standard 200 Watt Solar Panel to about $300 which means more than a 50% decrease in costs.In these days when the price of electricity and energy is constantly increasing this is an amazing fact and the decreasing cost of Solar Energy has made it the biggest Advantage of using Energy from the Sun.Cheap Chinese Solar Panels can be now be bought as low as $250 in bulk which implies that you can easily buy a Solar Array of 10 Solar Panels for your home at a cost of as low as $2500 .While the initial investment may look high you can look at electricity savings for 25 years as Solar Energy requires NO FUEL and very little maintenance as well.Solar Panels are already ubiquitous in places like Germany and Italy which have strong government support programs called Feed in Tariffs.With prices of energy increasing and Global Warming,its a matter of time when Solar Panels become as common as Lights in your home and offices.Solar Panels Installation is normally done by a Solar Integrator or Installer who decides on which Solar Panels to Buy and Designs the Systems.But as an owner of a Solar Panel System you must have a good idea otherwise you might get cheated upon.
July 6, 2011
Soar Rebates are a very important decision making factor when buying solar panels for your home or office or factory.The reason is that solar energy today is still not competitive with fossil fuel energy.However the costs of solar energy have declined dramatically in the recent past.It is estimated that solar energy will be competitive with coal,gas and other fossil fuels in 2-3 years in most places around the earth.In fact it has already reached "grid parity" in a number of countries like Italy,Hawai where there is a lot of sunshine and the cost of electricity is also high.Australia too has a large number of sunny hours which makes it ideal to install solar panels.State governments in Australia have been at the forefront of giving rebates and subsidies to promote solar energy in the country.This has resulted in a large boom of solar installations among residents in the country who are taking advantage of the generous subsidies.Though recently a number of provinces like New South Vales and Victoria have reduced the solar rebates , the falling cost of solar panels in Australia has still made it attractive enough for people to put up solar panels.
Most of the state government Feed in Tariff Schemes have closed down under a deluge of applications and have reached the limit.Now the rebates for solar energy is federal in nature where you can receive a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) or Solar Credit for the solar energy generated from solar panels.Here is a list of the solar rebates and subsidies available in different states of Australia.
July 6, 2011
Solar Power in India has been growing at an explosive pace due to declining costs of Solar Energy and incentives given by the Government of India under JNNSM.While most of the subsidies for solar energy in India are going to large solar farms,Solar Lighting is also growing steadily without any support.This is due to the fact that Solar Lighting saves on electricity costs and is also environment friendly.Solar Lighting in India is gaining traction not only in the upper income segments but also at the bottom of the pyramid.Solar Lanterns and Lamps are replacing expensive,GHG emitting kerosene lamps in poor rural as well as urban India.Depsite shoddy subsidies,solar lamps have become economic to compete with fossil fuel alternatives.Solar Lighting is also being heavily used for Street Illumination in places where the electricity grid is not present.Solar Lighting is also gaining acceptance in use in gardens where they can capture sunlight in the morning and light the gardens in the night using the stored energy.
July 6, 2011
Amorphous Silicon Solar Panels were the big rage in 2-3 years ago when the prices of polysilicon the main raw material were touching $500/kg making the mainstream crystalline silicon solar panels very expensive.Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) on the other hand is a non-crystalline silicon which is deposited as an extremely thin layer on glass and other substrates.The cost of the silicon is much lower though the efficiency of solar cells which are made from a-Si is about half of those made from crystalline silicon.Applied Materials with its SunFab turnkey amorphous silicon (a-Si) equipment capitalized on this opportunity, lining up a number of customers with some customer orders in the range of a Billion Dollars.Oerlikon Solar was the other major thin film equipment market winning customers in Europe and China.Sky high poly prices also gave birth to numerous Thin Film startups planning to Manufacture and Use their own equipment rather than selling it .
July 6, 2011
Solar Trackers are used to increase the Energy Output from Solar Panels and Solar Receivers.Solar Tracker is a Device which follows the movement of the sun as it rotates from the east to the west every day.Solar Trackers are used to keep solar collectors/solar panels oriented directly towards the sun as it moves through the sky every day.Using Solar Trackers increases the amount of solar energy which is received by the solar energy collector and improves the energy output of the heat/electricity which is generated.Solar Trackers can increase the output of Solar Panels by 20-30% which improves the economics of the solar panel project.
July 5, 2011
Multijunction Solar Cell Concept
The basic principle on which solar cells work is Photovoltaic ie. they convert the photons from the sunlight into usable electricity. However, in this process neither is all the light absorbed nor does all the photons get converted into electricity. High energy blue light photons do not have all of their energy converted into electricity, some is wasted as heat & low energy red light photons are not absorbed at all. Sunlight is made up of a broad spectrum and depending upon these various wavelengths, photons of light also have different energy levels.Hence, to minimize this wastage & to enhance the efficiency of solar cells, scientists came up with the concept of multijunction solar cells.
July 5, 2011
Samsung had decided a couple of years ago that it wants to be a major player in the Green Industry and has lined up billions of dollars to invest in solar and wind energy over the next decade.The company is already starting up massive solar panel plants and wind turbine factories as it hopes to capture a large chunk of the clean technology industry.Samsung is a global leader in the Semiconductor area which it is trying to reinforce by huge capital expenditure.Samsung has strong expertise in the areas of LCD and Memory manufacturing and technology, which it can easily leverage to develop Solar Thin Film technology.However,Samsung is focusing its efforts on high efficiency Crystalline Solar Technology.It recently announced a big investment commitment to Ontario in offshore wind and solar manufacturing and generation.The company wants to rival conglomerates like GE and Siemens which already have a large presence in wind,solar and smart grid technologies
July 5, 2011
Solar Power is rapidly increasing around the globe driven by falling prices of solar energy and increasing costs of electricity generated from coal,oil and gas.Besides governments are supporting renewable energy as it leads to increased energy security,less pollution and helps in reducing global warming.Solar Panels Costs have fallen rapidly in recent years falling to as low as $1/watt from $4/watt in 2008.This is due to increasing scale of manufacturing by Chinese producers of solar panels,improved technology and efficiency.While Solar Panel Installations have profilerated in Europe and even in Australia driven by state government rebates,they have not really taken off in New Zealand.
The reason is that the prices of solar panels are still higher here because the market is so small that volumes have not decreased the price yet.Major solar panel manufactures also don't have distribution in New Zealand which means that only high cost solar panels are only available from companies like Mitsubishi and BP Solar which are niche players in the global arena.In fact BP Solar has stopped manufacturing solar panels and outsources the production to Asian companies.
July 5, 2011
The Internet is full of websites that advertize and give you steps on how to make solar panels.In fact DIY (Do it Yourself) Solar Panels has become almost a regular industry in training common people to make solar panels at their homes.The reason given is that building solar panels at your home is much cheaper than buying solar panels from wholesalers.There are numerous books as well that you can buy on amazon that have diy solar panels.These books have nothing but a manual on how to solder solar cells together to make a solar panel.You can pretty much get this for free from any of the credible solar websites.However DIY Solar Panels throws up tons of books and website advertizements that seemingly would make you into a wizard solar panel maker.The truth is far from what these charlatans say.Solar Cell and Solar Panel prices have fallen drastically in the last few years.In fact you can buy very good solar panels from China and other places.In fact you can buy very good quality Japanese solar panels from Sharp or Sanyo at $600 for a 200 watt solar panel.
July 5, 2011
Solar Panels Demand has exploded in Ontario Canada boosted the the provincial government MicroFit program which gives a generous feed in tariff (higher electricity price) for the solar power generated from silicon solar panels fitted to your home or office.The Feed-in-Tariff depends on the size of the solar installation and is guaranteed for 20 years at a fixed price.This implies that you not only save on power bills but also get a much higher electricity price for the solar energy electricity that you are generating.This has led to a veritable boom in solar panels sale in Ontario and made it the fastest growing solar energy region in the whole of North America.However solar panels cannot be bought from anybody to qualify you for a government rebate.Only Solar Panels which meet the domestic production criteria can get solar rebates from the government.
July 5, 2011
Sanyo Solar is one the biggest Japanese solar companies along with Sharp,Kyocera and Mitsubishi.After Panasonic bought Sanyo,the emphasis on the renewable energy green division has been increased by Panasonic..Sanyo had been already been metamorphizing into a Green company from an Electronics company before Panasonic bought it for a very cheap price.Sanyo had never found much success in the cut-throat Electronics Sector with Operating Margins very near to break-even.However under Panasonic it could become a potential leader in the extremely fast growing Green Sectors.Panasonic has completely changed its strategy to become a major Green Player targeting a Major Percentage of Sales in the future to come from Green Products.Panasonic which is the world’s biggest Plasma TV producer is going to spend $1 Billion on Green Building investments.Panasonic will combine its Green Strengths with Sanyo’s to sell a complete Eco-Friendly Home complete with Solar Power,LED Lighting and Energy Storage and Efficiency capabilities.In Solar where Panasonic is the No. 3 player in Japan behind Sharp and Kyocera ,it is speeding up the expansion of solar capacity.It will spend more than $500 million aiming to triple its energy solutions business in Europe to 800 Million Euros by 2016.
July 5, 2011
1366 Technologies has got a $150 million DOE Loan Guarantee as the startup looks to raise $300 million to fund its solar wafer producing factory.Note the company is using an innovative technology which it says will be game changer in reducing the costs for making solar wafers.Note Solar Wafer Companies in China have managed to raise scale and reduce costs substantially in recent years winning marketshare from European companies like REC and Solarworld.The smaller companies like PV Crystalox are in deep trouble because of their high cost of operations and are trading at a fractional of their book value.Its a tough environment for solar companies especially if they are starting out as established solar panel companies like Evergreen Solar are facing potential bankruptcy.Evergreen Solar got millions of dollars in grants and loans from Massachusetts however the company has been forced to shut down its factory.Like 1366 Technologies Evergreen too uses a unique technology "String Ribbon" to producer solar wafers .However it has not been able to scale and reduce costs compared to the mainstream silicon solar wafer producers like LDK and GCL.
July 5, 2011
State governments in Australia have been at the forefront of giving rebates and subsidies to promote solar energy in the country.This has resulted in a large boom of solar installations among residents in the country who are taking advantage of the generous subsidies.Though recently a number of provinces like New South Vales and Victoria have stopped the solar rebates , the falling cost of solar panels in Australia has still made it attractive enough for people to put up solar panels.Now the rebates for solar energy is federal in nature where you can receive a Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) or Solar Credit for the solar energy generated from solar panels
July 5, 2011
Sharp which was the biggest solar company in 2010 in terms of revenues is being finally forced to move its production away from Japan to low cost countries in Asia.Note the relentless cut in prices of solar panels by Chinese solar panel companies has made life impossible for high cost panel companies in Europe and Japan.While US Companies like Sunpower and First Solar always had the majority of their production in low cost locales like Malaysia and Philipines,European solar firms had also started shifting their production overseas with Q-Cells moving to Malaysia and REC to Singapore.The current glut in solar panels has let to massive bloodletting in the solar industry with some established companies like Evergreen,ENER on the verge of bankruptcy.The sharp cost improvements and increased supply of crystalline silicon solar panels is set about to bring radical changes in the solar industry after a massive boom in 2010.The Second Wave of Thin Film Technology Bankruptcies has already started and we can expect more of that soon.Most of the production bases in Europe should be shuttered as well as costs have become higher than the selling prices.PV Crystalox and REC are already in a lot of trouble,cutting production and forecasting losses in the second half of 2011.
July 5, 2011
Solar Panels are sold by hundreds of companies around the world ranging from small to very large and comes in various shapes and sizes as well.Besides this solar panels are also made of very different materials for example silicon solar panels and thin film solar panels.So comparing solar panels and choosing a solar panel is a very difficult process if you want the best solar panel according to your needs.Note solar panels for the most part are brought by the solar integrators or solar installers that you employ to put up solar panels in your house or office.So you are not generally a part of the decision making process in case of solar panel buying.However to ensure that you get a good deal on your solar array installation,you should ensure that you get good quality solar panels and solar inverters.The solar panels should ideally have certification from quality organizations such as TUV,ISO,Clean Energy Council and others.Same with Solar Inverters that you are going to use.