Where do you think PV prices will go ?

Re: Where do you think PV prices will go ?

No inside info here, but we are expecting a short term small rise, mainly due to increased material and shipping costs. Just a guess but I suspect that prices for the raw solar panels will drop a little this fall, mainly due to over supply.

But overall I don't see any large price changes either way for at least a year.

Re: Where do you think PV prices will go ?

mike90045 wrote: »

I'll make that 10 years. Nothing seems to have proven itself longterm yet, other than the old reliable (and $$) panels out now. We've been hearing $1/watt for 10 years, and they still aren't here. (I want my flying car too !!)

Oh geez not the flying car! I DON'T want to see that, at least not for the masses. Imagine it, people with their cell phones hanging off their ear with a burger in one hand and the paper in another, along with three screaming kids in the back, trying to manage 3 possible axis of direction instead of just the two (well, really one) they try to travel now. Not to mention, now they can hit ANYWHERE, not just something off the road. If we go to flying cars I'm building a house that can handle a direct impact from the Space Shuttle. I don't support flying cars unless you are REQUIRED to either have a special license to fly manually OR have an autopilot control the vehicle for you, and autopilot scares me because it would be a centrally managed system subject to hacking.

I'm already very concerned about the drive by wire systems coming out, as the transmission and throttle are now electronically controlled with no mechanical connection between the two on many vehicles, AND they have bluetooth capability. Once they get steer by wire and brake by wire worked out for mass production, it'll just be a matter of time before hackers start breaking into vehicle operating systems. And, I forsee two possible outcomes here: Either a hacker will drive around a parking lot selecting what cars he wants to steal, then breaks the system and programs it to drive itself to a chop shop at 3AM, or they take control of the car while you are in it and, say, drive the car through a school playground at recess or some crap like that. I can also see potential insurance problems, like a hacker that takes control of the car behind, and makes the car accelerate into the back of their car for a whiplash suit. There's big bucks in whiplash suits, and how would the insurance company prove that the vehicle was tampered with? Even if they did, they'd still be liable for the damage caused unless they could specifically prove the victim did the tampering.

Heh heh, as you can tell, this sort of thing is one of my hobby horses, thanks for giving me a reason to take it for a ride!