The post I responded to was referring to rising oil prices contributing to solar demand, but let's talk demand in general. The price of coal has gone up a little, but cost of power produced from a coal generation resource is still orders of magnitude cheaper on a per KWh basis compared to solar. There are reasons that solar makes up less than 1% of the U.S. power supply and those are primarily:
1)For a majority of the country solar simply isn't an option due to lack of sunshine.
2)To date, solar panels are not very efficient and it requires significantly more land area to generate anywhere near the amount of power that can be produced by a coal or gas plant.
3)It should go without saying, but as I stated above, compared to other forms of generation solar simply isn't economical.
The success of solar is largely dependent on:
1)Improved efficiency in solar panels. This will increase the economical viability of solar produced power and allow for more efficient use of land.
2)Government regulations/Subsidies. The more the government cracks down on fossil fuel emissions and usage, the more alternative sources will benefit. It is up for debate if these regulations are more helpful or harmful to the general public. I won't get into that here.
3)Environmental conscientiousness/Global warming fear. There are those people, mostly affluent, who are willing to pay the price simply because it helps them feel better. These are the majority of residential purchasers today.
How does all of this impact an individual solar panel installer? Most of it doesn't for the most part. Obviously improvements in panel efficiency will help improve margins. Regional issues don't really impact them as they are going to be selling them in sunny areas. Government subsidies are probably going to be the biggest driver of short-term residential demand, especially in areas like California where the state clearly has a pro-environment agenda.
This is a lot of work to simply say, solar power is not, and will not be truly economical any time in the near future, but that doesn't mean there aren't opportunities for individual suppliers/installers.
