Real Industry [RE-wrenches]

Antony Tersol tony at appliedsolarenergy.com
Sat Feb 8 11:31:40 PST 2003


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Joel, well spoken.

Another point directly addressing Graham's:

"A problem will occur if and when the
subsidies have dropped below a level that provides enough incentive for
new PV construction.  This will present a dilemma for solar contractors,
how do we provide free service calls if there is no more income being
generated by new PV system installations? "

The purpose of the rebates is not so much a subsidy as an intent to 
jumpstart the industry, by making solar affordable now, boosting 
purchases, encouraging capital investments to boost production, which 
will drive down the cost of modules.  Will that happen?  Well, as 
proposed, the incentive will be dropping by $0.20/watt every six months. 
  Have module prices dropped at that rate?  Maybe not from individual 
companies, but certainly, as new companies enter the market, they seem 
to be entering agressively, to gain market share, so that prices have 
been dropping.

As this strategy succeeds, everyone in the industry, not just 
Californians, reap the rewards.  It is evident that it has stimulated 
the market in California (especially when the rebate was increased from 
$3 to $4.50, and when the utility rates shot up so that solar is as 
cheap or cheaper than that from the utility).

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