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SolarCity Says It Has Produced the World's Highest Efficiency Solar Panel

Posted by Soulskill on from the incremental-improvements dept.

Lucas123 writes: SolarCity, one of the country's leading solar panel makers and installers, today said it has been able to create a product that has a 22.04% efficiency rating, topping its closest competitor SunPower, by about one percent. While the percentages may appear small, SolarCity said the new panels, which will go into pilot production later this month, will produce 30% to 40% more energy with the same footprint as its current panels, and they will cost no more to make.

8 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. will they "cost no more to" buy? by turkeydance · · Score: 4, Interesting

    inquiring minds.....

    1. Re:will they "cost no more to" buy? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Who on earth would buy batteries for a solar panel installation? Just buy a grid tie inverter and pray your area has net metering and that's IT.

      Net metering is not available everywhere, and some places are scaling back. Hawaii has some of the highest electricity prices in the world (42c / kwh). So many people are installing solar, that there is a glut of electricity during the day, and the electricity company gets whipsawed at 7pm when the solar fades but the ACs are still on. Residential battery systems that could soak up even 20% of production, would shift demand by a couple hours and solve the problem.

      And no, solar panels ARE NOT cheap. If you think they are, then give me your sources.

      RTFA. It says that panels are now 65c/w. If you get a quote you will find that the installation costs and infrastructure are going to more than double that. The biggest cost is no longer the panels themselves.

    2. Re:will they "cost no more to" buy? by dwywit · · Score: 4, Informative

      Re: why Batteries? Those of us who choose to live beyond the grid. It's only 600 metres away from my house but Energex want ~AUD$30K to extend a standard (i.e. non-AC) single-phase service to my house.

      Solar panels are a damn sight cheaper than they used to be. My last purchase in 2009 was 6 x 140 watt 24 volt panels @ AUD$1400.00 each. Those same panels are now less than $400 each.

      --
      They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
    3. Re:will they "cost no more to" buy? by amiga3D · · Score: 3, Informative

      When I was there they said corrosion had destroyed the wind generators. Evidently the people that installed them didn't consider the salt environment when they did the install.

  2. Not one percent by ma++i+ude · · Score: 5, Informative

    22.04% is not one percent better than SunPower's 21.5%, it's 2.5% better. Alternatively, it's 0.54 percentage points better. It's not the same thing.

    --
    You can't shut us down! The Internet is about the free exchange and sale of other people's ideas!
  3. Labor cost to install remains the biggest issue... by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In my area, the cost of the panels is no longer the primary issue.

    I can purchase a 10kw system online including all the panels, cables, inverter, etc. for about $17K.

    http://www.wholesalesolar.com/...

    That system has 32 panels, the "smart" inverter, racking, disconnect, etc.

    The trick is installing it. The lowest total installed price for that system that I've been able to find is $35K. That strikes me as nuts.

    I've contacted multiple companies, I've had 2 of them quote me systems after looking at my roof.

    Making the panels a bit more efficient won't cut the price by enough to matter until the install cost comes down. Maybe I should start a solar panel install company. :)

  4. Re:Labor cost to install remains the biggest issue by silas_moeckel · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Hint you have to use a certified (by the solar panel manufacture aka the last guys that touched it) to get the fed tax credits.

    Like most federal tax credits incentives etc it's pork for a corp interest. All you should need is the signoff from the electrical inspector maybe have them do a quick power output test and sign some paperwork. Instead the value of that work gets marked up the same as the tax breaks.

    --
    No sir I dont like it.
  5. Re:Can you buy these panels yourself? by ShooterNeo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Like this? https://www.anapode.com/produc...

    Point is, you need a panel. And you need a microinverter. And you need a wire to the roof. And you need a box, called a combiner box, the wire goes into. There is usually a cutoff switch on that box. Then, after that, the wire from the combiner box is usually backfed into your main breaker panel, with the power going backwards through an appropriate breaker rated for the wire's ampacity. Really, the tricky part is the power company has to come and approve the design and install their 2 way meter. Everything else, any idiot can do.