|
Information
updated as of July 2009
|
| Solar
Energy Demand |
| Worldwide
photovoltaic installations increased by 5,948
MW in 2008, up from 2,826 MW installed during the
previous year. In 1985, annual solar installation demand was only
21 MW. |
| Cumulative
solar energy production accounts for less than 0.01% of total Global
Primary Energy demand. |
| Solar
Energy demand has grown at about 30% per annum over the past 15
years (hydrocarbon energy demand typically grows between 0-2% per
annum). |
| The
US market
grew to 357 megawatts in 2008. Japan's market is now the sixth largest
market. Spain was the largest market in 2008 |
| The
"Feed-in Law" has led to Germany
to become the second largest market in the world in 2008. |
| Solarbuzz
research confirms that the Asia
Pacific, European
and United
States all are projected to have strong growth over
the next five years. |
| Jobs
in the solar and renewable energy industries may be found at greenjobs.com |
| Photovoltaic
Manufactured Solar Cells |
| In
megawatt terms, cell production in China and Taiwan reached 3,304
MW in 2008, with Europe at 1,729 MW ahead of Japanese production
at 1,172 MW in 2008. |
| US
manufacturers contributed 375 MW in 2008. |
| Click
here to find worldwide solar energy product manufacturers. |
| Solar
Energy Prices |
| Solar
Energy (photovoltaic) prices have declined on average 4% per annum
over the past 15 years. Progressive increase in conversion efficiencies
and manufacturing economies of scale are the underlying drivers. |
| The
Solarbuzz global
price survey on this site shows that prices have consistently
declined for over the last two years. A detailed analysis of the
worldwide PV Market is in our premier industry report, Marketbuzz
2009. The US Grid Connect Market is analyzed in detail
in this report.
|
| A
residential solar energy system typically costs about $8-10 per
Watt. Where government incentive programs exist, together with lower
prices secured through volume purchases, installed costs as low
as $3-4 watt - or some 10-12 cents per kilowatt hour can be achieved.
Without incentive programs, solar energy costs (in an average sunny
climate) range between 22-40
cents/kWh for very large PV systems. |
| Other
Solar Energy Facts |
| Did
you know that solar energy is dependent upon nuclear power? Solar
Energy's nuclear power plant, though, is 93 million miles away. |
| An
average crystalline silicon cell solar module has an efficiency
of 15%, an average thin film cell solar module has an efficiency
of 6%. Thin film manufacturing costs potentially are lower, though. |
| A
Megawatt is 1,000,000 Watts; a Gigawatt is 1000 Megawatts. |
| The
earth receives more energy from the sun in just one hour than the
world uses in a whole year. |
| Two
billion people in the world have no access to electricity. For most
of them, solar photovoltaics would be their cheapest electricity
source, but they cannot afford it. |
| Crystalline
Silicon cell technology forms about 90% of solar cell demand. The
balance comes from thin film technologies. |
| Approximately
45% of the cost of a silicon cell solar module is driven by the
cost of the silicon wafer, a further 35% is driven by the materials
required to assemble the solar module. |
