DIYbanter - Solar cells for less than 1 USD per Watt

On Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:45:51 -0700 (PDT), Energy Saver
wrote:

Do you know that you can find solar cells for less than 1 USD per Watt
on www.ebay.com ?

Nope. The thin film and nano solar cell manufactories are still
statups and not producing anything suitable for unloading on eBay.
They claim $0.50/watt when production starts, but that doesn't seem to
be happening in the near future. Panels are currently about $5/watt.
Reflector type arrays average about $3/watt.

First Solar claims $1/watt but that's hype:
http://investor.firstsolar.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=201491&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=1259614
The $1/watt is their manufacturing cost, not their sales price.
Conventional initial sales price for a new tech product is about 5
times the mfg cost, putting them exactly the same as the other
vendors.

Light reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-cost_photovoltaic_cell
Be sure to read this section on do it thyself and eBay vendors:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-cost_photovoltaic_cell#DIY_panels

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558