1$ per watt?

[greenkarson]

Sorry if this is not posted in the right forum.  I heard a guy talking about 1$/watt solar panels. He was talking like a person would have to be crazy to pay any more then that.  But from prices i have seen twice that would be a good deal.  So has anyone actually bought a solar panel that was retail priced at 1 dollar?  From a quick google search i did seams like a dollar has been just around the corner for a couple of years.
   So it made me curious to see if anybody had actually paid 1$/watt with out any catches like having to pay for installation.  Or a company going out of business.
Thanks

[dbcollen]

I have purchased several pallets of solar panels at $1/watt from sunelec.com

[richhagen]

ditto, I have also purchased a bunch of panels at .78 per Watt from Sunelec as have a few others here I am aware of.  They have some currently for .87 U.S. a Watt for those in the U.S. of A. according to an e-mail they sent me last week.  Rich

[TomT]

DM solar currently has this one ForSale. As of 03/28/2012. I just bought 4 and awaiting arrival.
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DMSOLAR 145w Poly Solar Module ($0.82 per watt!)

[richhagen]

I've purchased from him, DM,  before as well.  The ones I got were relabeled Chinese imports, they arrived well packed and functioned as advertised.  Rich

[vtpeaknik]

Shipping costs add about $0.20 / watt, but it's still cheap.  The question is, are these prices to stay, or is this a temporary "fire-sale" following the bankrupcy of several US and European PV manufacturers due to the competition from China?

[Bruce S]

Shipping costs add about $0.20 / watt, but it's still cheap.  The question is, are these prices to stay, or is this a temporary "fire-sale" following the bankruptcy of several US and European PV manufacturers due to the competition from China?

My opinion is that these are probably here to stay unless some "Futures" buying person starts a run on them, which is what has really caused a lot of stuff , like petrol and NG to go up, even though the US and other countries are using less.
There are manufacturers in the US that are still ramping up and quickly try to catch up with the Chinese.
Then there's the ones in the EU that are online as well. A Fire-sale wouldn't make it too far in the retail arena.
Cheers;
Bruce S

[vtpeaknik]

It's not the speculators that caused oil price up: global demand is up due to skyrocketing demand in China and India etc, despite slowly declining demand (due to high prices) in US and Europe.  And NG prices are down, not up, at the moment, in the USA.  Temporarily, since they are now below production cost, and the producers are therefore slowly winding down drilling etc, while demand is increasing as electrical power producers are switching from coal to NG, and truck fleets convert to CNG/LNG...

But back to PV prices: the price in US dollars may increase due to two possible future scenarios: rising cost of NG (to make the electricity to make the PV panels), and a decline in the global purchasing value of the US dollar (assuming that the US Fed prints money faster than everybody else, and that Congress gets its wish and the Chinese let their currency appreciate).  Another issue is the demand for PV, it's been depressed due to the economic problems in Europe, but may build back up, especially elsewhere, e.g., in China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states (yes they are building huge PV arrays), etc.

[Bruce S]

YES Pack to PVs;
It is true even the Sahara regions are building these up as well, but mostly these are grid level sizes and mostly will not affect the consumer prices directly.
Supply and demand will go far and wide to dictate the consumer market.
Europe can hold it's own, Germany and Netherlands has always been players in the PV big-boy fields.
There really hasn't been any depressed market for solar; either here in the US or in the EU. According to the prospectuses I've received in the past few years, shows market requests on a continuous up swing, hence the reason the manufacturers adding on more plants.
Only reason I haven't bought a nice pallet of them is I'm waiting for StL to decide if they're going to have energy credits , the FEDs already have it, and I surely pay enough taxes to warrant just a little back  .

   
 

[Valalvax]

If you DIY are you still eligible for state/fed rebates? The fed one is 30% and the state one for GA is 30% for Solar, I think paid out over 5 or 10 years or something...