solar cells

[Robert Bruninga]

> "solar-cell-grade silicon" was the bottleneck. 
> that's been eased a bit, again with Chinese 
> manufacturing capacity coming online.

But with the global downturn, there was a glut for a while.  I
have been drooling over Solar panels for my house for 6 months
and finally was ready to purchase in Early December twelve 224
watt SHARP panels.  On the day I went to order, the place
offered German 220W panels for a few % less than the Asian
panels.

Apparently Germany peak production has out stripped their demand
in the current recession and so their panels are deeply
discounted.  I have heard as much as 40% reduction in price over
the last year or so.

Oh, finally was home this weekend to watch the wattmeter run
backwards during peak production... Problem was, the NUMBERS
were still counting forward!  No wonder BGE had said that this
particular TOU meter will not work in a grid-tie system.  When I
am actually backfeeding, the result is they are charging me for
it!  No wonder my electric bill was higher, instead of lower...

Problem is, they will not let TOU customers back-feed, because
they would have to replace all those old TOU meters. (though
they are required to by law)...

Bob
WB4APR