How Manufacturers are Bringing Solar to Grid Parity

By Stephen Lacey, Podcast Editor
November 29, 2007 | 2 Comments

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Peterborough, New Hampshire [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] The solar industry is itching to bring PV to grid parity with fossil sources of energy, and the burden of this task is carried primarily by manufacturers and politicians. This week, we're talking with two different types of manufacturers about their methods of lowering the cost of PV and how the recent debacle over the energy bill in Washington may impact their business.

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Firstly, Charlie Gay, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Solar Business Group at Applied Materials talks to us about the company's new SunFab integrated thin film manufacturing line. Charlie has had a long career in the solar industry, and he'll talk about primary trends in the cost reduction of PV.

Secondly, Denis Du Bois of Energy Priorities Magazine has an interview with Bob Ford, CEO of Solaicx, a manufacturer of monocrystalline silicon ingots and wafers. Bob will tell us about Solaicx's advanced manufacturing technology, how the company plans to scale up operations, and the importance of the investment tax credit for the solar industry.

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2 Reader Comments

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1 of 2

pv-sales-in-ca-52346

December 3, 2007

Grid parity...hmmm.. Seems to me like that is always going to be just out of reach... why do I think that... because of the monolithic traditional fuel industry that has an interest in solar not becoming more cost effective than solar... we have to approach this more aggressively through carbon taxes, strong residential incentives and continuing the investment tax credit to bring solar to the forefront. We need to suck it up and make this happen before it's too late...

Comment
2 of 2

ian-page-36034

December 3, 2007

Steve great podcasts...b could you get these guys to be more forthcoming about what sort of prices they see even if its for complete installations so they can hide their own prices.

I thought these and the China solar guy you interviewed are all talking about parity soon. When's soon? The sort of 2015ish date bandied around for consumer grid equivalent in the states or earlier.

It is important because lots of decisions to build nuclear and coal plants are being made on what could well be an uneconomic basis, since the cost of solar doesn't stop at grid parity , it keeps going down.

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Stephen Lacey

About: I am a reporter with ClimateProgress.org, a blog published by the Center for American Progress. I am former editor and producer for RenewableEnergyWorld.com, wh... more »