There are 2 main factors which govern solar power cost and they are quite simply, the assembly cost of the solar panels and the installment cost of the solar system in the home.

Solar power panels may be green, eco-friendly and help save our planet but until they can compete in the energy marketplace they will never be extensively used. A new coal-burning plant can easily deliver electricity at $2 per watt and so this is the benchmark number that the solar experts want to match.

For the last twenty years scientists have been developing ingenious and cheaper designs of solar power panels. It is the Silicone based solar photovoltaic panels that have dominated the industry and sell for approximately $3 a watt, however this is before installation.

For some time there was a real shortage of silicone and although the interest in solar panels was growing, the solar panel suppliers were not able to meet that demand. Today although there is an ample supply of silicone, nevertheless the process of refining it to produce the semiconductors is a costly process and there are not many companies that do this. The handful of factories that are able to produce this refined silicone have a monopoly on the supplies meaning that even though the demand is high they can keep the price inflated.

The actual price of refined silicone is one of the key elements in the cost of solar panels. The key thrust of research taking place today is in developing ways to lower the quantity of silicone that is needed to produce a solar panel. There is also research taking place with alternative less expensive materials which are equally effective. There are certain organic materials which have semiconductor properties which can be used rather than silicone.

The expense of installation will vary quite considerably depending on whether you do it by yourself or if you call in an experienced installer. To install a solar power system in your home using a professional installer can cost you between $10 - $12 per watt. If you install the solar system by yourself then it will most likely cost you about $4 per watt.

Whilst the initial expense of installation of a home solar energy system would still be fairly expensive there is no doubt that soon, given the astounding advancements that are taking place, the price should come down. In the mean time, government authorities all over the world are encouraging and subsidizing the use of this technology by offering tax savings and credits for home owners who install solar power systems.

Therefore if you set up your solar energy system by yourself at the cost of about $4 per watt and claim all of the tax savings and credits that are available in the area, then your solar power cost may not be so far from the $2 per watt standard of the electricity delivered by the coal-burning plant.

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