Cost of Solar Panel is Coming Down

This article looks at the real Cost of Solar Panel and how you can significantly reduce these costs. Specifically, we will look at why globally the cost of solar panel is coming down, how government grants can reduce your costs and how you can significantly reduce the cost of providing solar power for your home by a huge 70%.

For some time, the manufacture of solar panels has been held back by a shortage of polysilicon.  However, recently more factories have started making solar panels, especially in China.  As the supply of solar panels increases we are seeing a corresponding reduction in solar panel prices.  With the increased supply, the cost of solar panel has come down by approximately 20% during the last year.  Although still not cheap, solar panels are gradually becoming more affordable.

Government Grants

Governments are very keen for folk to take up green renewable energy.  Most governments offer various grants and financial incentives to encourage the installation of domestic solar panels and wind turbines.  Depending on where you live, these grants can be very generous, in some places contributing more than a third of the overall cost.

Note: in most countries to qualify for the government incentives you must use approved products, in the US your panels must have UL approval.

Current Cost of Solar Panel

Although the cost of solar panel has come down by more than 20% in the last 12 months, solar panels cannot be considered cheap!  The best way to look at the cost of solar panel is the cost per watt.  Solar cells are used to make different sized solar panels and these panels typically produce 40, 50, 55, 60, 80, 130 or 180 watts.  The output is determined by the number of solar cells that make up the panel and the efficiency of the photovoltaic material used in each cell.

Although it is claimed by some people that  the current cost of solar panel is $3 – $4 per watt, it is still difficult to find many solar panels available that cheap.  Having spent many hours trawling through the Internet searching for solar panels and trying to find the cheapest available, based upon the offers currently available I estimate the the cost of solar panel is typically around $5 – $7 per watt.  Here is an example of some of the solar panels that are available at GoGreenSolar and Amazon:

Supplier	panel watts	panel cost	cost per watt
Go Green Solar.com	62	$452	$7.30
	80	$470	$5.86
	180	$975	$5.42
	190	$968	$5.10
Amazon.com	15	$80	$5.33
	80	$450	$5.63
	400	$3000	$7.50
	123	$668	$5.43

The above solar panels have a cost per watt range of $5.10 to $7.50, with most panels costing just under $5.50 per watt.

The Real World Cost of Solar Panel

Realistically, apart from the exceptional bargains currently on offer at Amazon (see below), we expect to pay $300 – $450 or more for a commercially manufactured 60 watt solar panel.

If you want to reduce your dependence of mains electricity and burning fossil fuels, you will need a number of solar panels to provide sufficient power.  How many solar panels you need will depend on how much electricity you consume each year and where you live.  But, let us take an average US family and assume that you will need 3000 watts (3KW) of solar power, which equates to 50 x 60w solar panels.  For 3KW the total cost of solar panel will be $15,000 – $22,500.

So, although the cost of solar panel has come down, we are still looking at what most people would consider to be a large sum of money.

Is there a Realistic Do It Yourself Alternative?

One option that is promoted by many web sites is to go down the do it yourself route.  If you want just a couple of solar panels, to provide light and some power for a shed, workshop or garage, making them yourself could be a practical, enjoyable and satisfying project.  The DIY route should enable you to make a 60watt solar panel for around $175.  But if you want 3000 watts of solar energy, we strongly recommend you buy commercially manufactured solar panels. The DIY route takes too much time and effort, it is not cost effective and home made solar panels are very unlikely to qualify for the grants and rebates that many Governments offer (in the US, solar panels must have UL approval to qualify for grants and rebates).

If you are nevertheless attracted making a couple of solar panels as a DIY project, it is essential that you buy the right “how to make solar panels” guide / kit.  The good ones are excellent but the poor ones leave too many questions unanswered and fail to pay sufficient attention to safety.  Please take a look at our review of the leading “how to” manuals/guides.

Exceptional Bargains

However, during all this searching I did find a couple of well hidden real bargains on the Amazon site that are quite exceptional.  I readily admit that I had not expected to find factory made solar panels this cheap.  These panels are priced very competitively and merit your serious consideration:

Amazon.com	panel watts	panel/kit cost	cost per watt
Sunwatts 120 watt Solar Panel	120	$358	$2.98
HQRP 85W Mono-crystalline Solar Panel	85	$295	$3.47
Sunforce 60 watt Solar Charging Kit*	60	$285	$4.75

We stated above that 3000 watts of commercially supplied solar panels will typically cost $15,000 – $22,500. However, if you were to use the Sunwatts 120 panels from Amazon, the cost for 3000 watts of solar panels will be 25 x £358 = $8950, which really is an amazingly low price.  This panel has UL 1703 and IEC 61215 certification.

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Conclusion

Solar panels are a very attractive alternative to burning fossil fuels and although they are still quite expensive for many of us, you can reduce the cost of solar panels by shopping around for the bargains.

Recommendation.  Buy the Sunwatts 120 watt. This Solar Panel is being sold on Amazon for $358 per panel, equivalent to 2 x 60 watt panels ($179 for 60 watts).  This is a seriously low price.

If you really want to make a couple of solar panels yourself expect to pay around $150 – $175 for materials per panel.  Make sure you choose the best guide/manuals/videos.  Our review recommends HomeMadeEnergy as the best all round package.

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