High Oil Prices Makes Solar More Attractive
People don’t complain too much when gas costs $2.50/gallon or less at the pump. But, when it goes above that $3 level, clamoring for “energy independence through renewable resources” becomes much more prevalent. Invariably, one of the first areas of focus is on solar energy, because that technology has evolved to the point where energy can be generated efficiently enough to make it a feasible alternative. For example, First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) says that its cost per watt has decreased from $2.94 in 2004 to $1.08 in 2008. The causes for the better efficiencies are complex and can be difficult to understand, but one of the most important progressions in the field has been the advancement of thin-film based solar modules. The typical thickness of thin-film is less than 1% if a typical crystalline wafer-based cell, driving the cost down substantially. Another producer of thin-film modules is China-based Suntech Power Holdings (NYSE: STP).
