# The price of solar panels



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

I'm posting this here because it has to do with the price of precious metals 

There is a lot of talk about how the price solar panels has came down. Now we all know people don't
lower prices out of the goodness of there hart. 
Competition, Or has the cost of making them gone down?

From what I understand there is a lot of silver used in production of solar panels.
And the price of silver has fallen. 

Does this mean the price of solar panels will go up when silver goes up?
has the time to hesitate on buying solar panels passed? 

Right now I can buy good quality panels for $1.27 per watt delivered with shipping.
If you don't know much about the price of solar panels ,, Trust me this is a good price. 

Is now the time to buy your solar panels? Or has silver found a sustainable price?


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

depending on where you live, check out Solarcity.com. The sell, and lease systems. One type of lease is to let them put the system on your house at their expense and they sell you the electricity you need. Friends down here in AZ who have it, say they pay a little less than from the grid. I figure if it doesn't cost anything because it's a 20 year lease, if the SHTF, you could modify it to fit your needs. One system near me looks like it could easily be 3-4KW.


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## Lledslinger (Jul 2, 2014)

I've been buying Solar Panels for several years now and you are right $1.27 per watt is good for quality panels. I have been buying Silver for years as well and find no correlation between the two. Is it time to buy Solar Panels? I say yes but not because of price but because it is a good plan to have backup power and although solar is not the answer it is part of the answer.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

Its a good offer, from solarcity, verengo solar, and several others usually done thru an intermediary called "sunrun.com" The issue is the math is so complicated its tough to figure out if you are getting a good deal. Just because its a few cents less then grid provided power doesn't mean its a good deal. You can usually press the salesman to drop the per kilowatt hour rate some, I'd press until they say no. Then I'd wait for them to call back when they know its still profitable. They are willing to do it all, all the investment, and all you do is buy the power - its called a power purchase agreement in legal terms. You agree to buy all the systems power. Not a bad deal at all for city folks.

As to the original question - there is very little silver in a solar panel. The price reduction is due to competition, chinese subsidies / currency values, and market flooding by the chicoms. I don't believe American manufacturing is going to be able to match that .33 cents an hour labor over there.



paraquack said:


> depending on where you live, check out Solarcity.com. The sell, and lease systems. One type of lease is to let them put the system on your house at their expense and they sell you the electricity you need. Friends down here in AZ who have it, say they pay a little less than from the grid. I figure if it doesn't cost anything because it's a 20 year lease, if the SHTF, you could modify it to fit your needs. One system near me looks like it could easily be 3-4KW.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

There are many was to produce solar panels. I know of one place in California that prints solar panels. The printed panels are placed in an enclosure and sold. There is another that makes panels in sheets that are as long as you want. The panels are not sensitive to a cell going out - the rest of the panel continues to make power. If half the panel is in the shade it doesn't stop the panel from making power like most panels. You can shoot bullets through the panels and they continue to work. There are those companies that make the standard silicon or germanium cell based panels in all kinds of configurations but they are sensitive to shade over a single point and require more sunlight to make the same level of power that the multi-crystalline panels make in complete shade. 

The prices are coming down because they are more mainstream, more popular and there are more being made.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

I won't say to spend all the money to go off grid. But having enough solar to handle some lights & other basics in a grid down situation is logical. When the grid goes down how much are you going to pay for fuel daily for electric? That is when the solar is really going to pay for itself.

Don't do solar just for emergencies. If you do any size solar, use it daily. Some lights would be the most common use.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Lights are easy with solar - especially if you use LED lights. They are a perfect match. Just remember that you need batteries to match your load and you need enough solar to recharge the batteries. Keep in mind the charge controller and the inverter lose about 10% each - so plan for that.


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

HuntingHawk said:


> I won't say to spend all the money to go off grid. But having enough solar to handle some lights & other basics in a grid down situation is logical. When the grid goes down how much are you going to pay for fuel daily for electric? That is when the solar is really going to pay for itself.
> 
> Don't do solar just for emergencies. If you do any size solar, use it daily. Some lights would be the most common use.


My 5500 Watt Honda Generator Consumes Approximately One Gallon Of Has Per Hour Under Load. So For Me Right Now It Is The Going Rate For Unleaded Per Hour Of Operation We Typically Shut Down While We Are Sleeping Then Run For Three Hours In The Morning And Sol Hours In The Afternoon. It Would Be Easy To Consume Fifteen To Twenty Dollars Per Day. At That Cost You Could Justify A Solar System Quickly.

The Wild Card About A Generator Is Availability Of Fuel.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

We started running an 8k generator on biofuel we can produce with feed stock from the grasses we have on row crop. We ave about 200 gallons per acre and only produce about 600 gallons a year. The generator needs about 1.25 gallons an hour. We use it for extreme needs and cloudy days when solar production is low...it's never dead. Even in rain storms and extensive cloud cover we get some juice. Panels have hit about a buck / buck.10 a watt. Even producing our own diesel at $1.1 a gallon not buying wheat grass solar wins the dollar per power prize.



alterego said:


> My 5500 Watt Honda Generator Consumes Approximately One Gallon Of Has Per Hour Under Load. So For Me Right Now It Is The Going Rate For Unleaded Per Hour Of Operation We Typically Shut Down While We Are Sleeping Then Run For Three Hours In The Morning And Sol Hours In The Afternoon. It Would Be Easy To Consume Fifteen To Twenty Dollars Per Day. At That Cost You Could Justify A Solar System Quickly.
> 
> The Wild Card About A Generator Is Availability Of Fuel.


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## PatrickDaveys (Jun 30, 2014)

budgetprepp-n said:


> I'm posting this here because it has to do with the price of precious metals
> 
> There is a lot of talk about how the price solar panel has came down. Now we all know people don't
> lower prices out of the goodness of there hart.
> ...


I think price of solar panels have come down due to extensive competition and better technology to build them.. Earlier cost of production was pretty high..


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## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

2/3 of an ounce in a 80 watt panel? Check this out

Look Out Silver, Here Comes Solar Demand | Casey Research

and
https://www.google.com/webhp?source...e=UTF-8#q=how much silver is in a solar panel


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I only brought up the idea of a lease system is that if SHTF, it's on your house.


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