New technology iminent?

[Jeff Pritchard]

One hears (mostly in science magazines) about various new technologies that are supposed to make solar cheaper any day now. Anybody here know of any such technologies that are really "on the verge"?

Right now I have the option of starting small and replacing what I do now with a lot of something cheaper in a year or two. I'm just wondering how likely it is that solar electricity will go down by a significant percentage (dollars per watt) in the next two years.

Is it all just pie in the sky? Are we on the verge of any sort of a volume related "run", where it gets a buck or two cheaper per watt based on technology or the small increases in volume currently happening, and that fuels some sort of a capacity increase that further drives down the price?

thanks,
jp

[Frank Flynn]

There is lots of noise about new cheaper PV panels so I assume there are good things coming.

These guys use mirrors to concentrait light on the panels
http://www.parc.xerox.com/about/pressroom/news/2006-02-16-solfocus.html

These guys use "thin film" which is supposed to be cheaper to manufacture
http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=45227

I've also heard (but cannot find links to) the idea of combining your solar hot water panel and your PV panel because the PV works better at lower tempertures and they get quite hot on your roof. The hot water panels don't mind the PV's on top because the PV's are only ~5% efficent so most of the solar energy does go into the water as heat.

[Rob Beckers]

I've also heard (but cannot find links to) the idea of combining your solar hot water panel and your PV panel because the PV works better at lower tempertures and they get quite hot on your roof. The hot water panels don't mind the PV's on top because the PV's are only ~5% efficent so most of the solar energy does go into the water as heat.

One problem I can see with that approach is that solar water heating needs pretty high water temperatures to be effective, while the optimum working range for photovoltaics is much lower.

-Rob-

[James Jarrett]

Not necessarily. If you for heating and domestic hot water "boosting" all you need is about 80 degrees.

80 degree water pumped through an in-floor heating system will keep a house quite toasty even in very cold weather if it is well insulted.

And pre-heating your hot water, even to 80f as opposed to 55 degree well temp will save a lot of money.