Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of solar panels dropped about 85%.
“When you have a product that becomes cheaper, the question is, OK, now this is cheaper, is it as durable as it used to be?” says Marios Theristis, a researcher at Sandia National Laboratories.
Since 2016, his team has been testing the performance and durability of more than 800 solar panels, including 13 different module types, from seven manufacturers.
They’re testing them in New Mexico, Colorado, and Florida, to see how they function in a range of climate conditions. They monitor the panels’ power output and assess how the modules are holding up physically — for example, if they develop cracks.
The research reveals significant differences among the panels. But on average, after five years of use, they performed as well as older, pricier modules.
“So far in this study, we found that despite the sharp reduction in costs, we have not seen any influence on the durability of solar panels, which is a very encouraging result,” Theristis says.
His team will continue to monitor the panels. But he says the results so far suggest that consumers can feel confident that solar panels have gone down in price, but not in quality.
Not sure about prices for Chinese solar, but since the ban on imports from Xinjiang factories accused of using forced Uighur labour, prices in the US have gone up. ‘A fall in U.S. solar installations in 2022 and rising project prices show how a ban on products made from forced labour in China along with other U.S. trade policies are pushing the U.S. further away from President Biden’s goal of a decarbonised power sector by 2035. Utility-scale solar installations fell by 23% as delays pushed projects into 2023 while average solar PPA prices in Q4 rose 33% on a year ago.’ (Reuters)
Solar module production slowly growing in the US.
https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/business/ap-major-solar-panel-plant-opens-in-us-amid-backdrop-of-industry-worries-about-low-priced-asian-imports/
“30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Dalton in Cartersville, Qcells is building a $2.3 billion complex to take polysilicon refined in Washington state and make ingots, wafers and solar cells — in addition to 3.3 gigawatts of solar modules. That plant is scheduled to open in phases starting next year.
Much of the rest of the world are happy to take Chinese solar, and I’m happy to discover that Sub-Saharan is starting to grow its solar generating capacity, though it is very far behind the rest of the world.
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