Cost of a Solar Panel Factory

Max Dunn — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:19:00 -0700

When looking at the economics of building solar panels, one important factor is how much the factory costs.

By comparison, the fuel for a nuclear power plant is very inexpensive and the main reason why nuclear power is so expensive is that the nuclear plants cost so much to build. Is this also true for solar panels? Do solar panel factories costs so much that even if the marginal cost of producing a solar panel comes down, will the cost of the factory still keep the prices high?

If the recent announcement of a thin-film solar panel factory is any indication, then solar panel plant costs are very low.

This factory will cost about $150 million dollars and produce 100 MW of solar panels per year. Over 10 years, this will add only $0.15 per watt to the cost of the panel. Considering that we only need to get solar power down to about $2.00 per watt to be competitive to coal, the cost of the factory is not a problem.

So it appears that the cost of solar panel factories will not be the limiting factor in bringing down the cost of solar power.

Eschew Obfuscation: Cost of a Solar Panel Factory

Cost of a Solar Panel Factory