Solar Panels May Have Ultimately Attained Economic Efficiency

by Susan Smithson

As users, we seldom get all emotional about an event until it starts to affect our fiscal condition or how we go about our daily lives. Very few citizenry cared about the value of gas when it was vacillating around $2.10 per gallon. When it gets up around $3.35 per gallon and costs over $120.00 to fill up that petrol drinking SUV however, we get a bit more aware. The last time this special phenomenon was evident was in the very late 70′s, at a time when there was an oil trade stoppage and hence, no petrol. Substitute energies began to pop up here and there with many people jumping on the band wagon. But, gas soon returned in plentiful supply and secondary energy sources fell beneath the average users radar screen again. Now, in 2009, the common consumer is seeing gasoline costs move higher and found a realization that global warming will be changing finances soon. Substitute energy is back in the brains of the ordinary consumer and, perchance, this time for good. Where did solar go? – Solar power for the family was a big seller during the energy crisis of the 1970′s. Many households found tri-pods of solar panels on their roofs gathering what power they could. These units were found mostly in environmentally aware Arizona, but soon they were found all across the Globe. Unfortunately, the solar power cell of the 1970′s just wasn’t all that effective and cost quite a bit to place and maintain. As fossil fuel returned to the market there was miniscule need for solar cells in a time of blazing consumption. But the idea of solar energy was a good one and many pioneers comprehended that it was a good idea that had yet to find its time. Solar panels never went away; they just slid back into the lab to await solar panel 2.1. Solar is back and ready – Today’s poly-crystalline pv solar cell is not your father’s polycrystalline solar panel. Depending upon which type of energy you care to generate, electricity or hot water, today’s poly-crystalline photo-voltaic solar cell has come a very long way in the form of photovoltaic’s and will go further still. These cells, when combined into poly-crystalline pv solar module form, turn the suns rays (so-to-speak) right into power ready for use. They have also become exceedingly efficient, more environmentally sound and less expensive. Today’s solar panel will sit almost anywhere and is quickly finding itself being turned into a panel the thickness of a nano particle. Solar power technology is running at extremely fast pace and driving costs down to an affordable level. Who’s using poly-crystalline pv solar cells? – As mentioned, it takes a change in the purse strings to see a marked change in a consumer’s behavior. With a technology and paradigm shift on the order of polycrystalline pv solar panel it requires a solid leap forward in panel efficiency, costs of panels , associated elements and an increase in existing costs of fuel. When these factors reach critical mass solar panels start to show up, not at the consumer level, but at the corporate and industrial level. This is simply because business moves its money where the costs-over time-are less. This is just good business. Photo-voltaic solar cells are now, as in this past two years, become more cost effective for industry to use then to not use them over time. Why pv solar modules now? Polycrystalline PV solar modules are now being used primarily because fuel costs are just too high to ignore in favor of a new technology that is worth checking out. Companies have available empty roof space and the choice of trying something on a larger scale to see if it works versus continuing to pay higher fuel bills and environmental costs. The whole concept is extremely self serving. There is no environmental consideration involved. If the company doesn’t use solar panels they have to pay fuel costs and air clean-up expenses along with variable fuel charges. They try out the Polycrystalline solar panels and see if they work now. If they do, the company can; commit to a full solar panel program with even more efficient solar panels, significantly reduce fuel costs and almost eliminate air cleaning needs along the way. There is little environmental about it. It’s just good business. After industry gets rolling, solar panel costs will drop like a stone and the consumer will jump on board because it’s just good business.