Solar Cells Info

by Tyler Hamilton, Dec 22, 2008
Source: Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/557162

Most homeowners, it’s safe to assume, would seriously consider putting solar panels on their rooftops if it was economical and didn’t involve a massive upfront payment. As the kids might say on the drive to the cottage, are we there yet? Not quite – but we’re heading in the right direction. Ontario refunds the provincial sales tax on solar photovoltaic, or PV, equipment and under its standard offer program will pay 42 cents per kilowatt-hour if you want to feed your home-generated solar power into the grid.

These incentives help, especially if you consider the rate of return of investing $20,000 in a two-kilowatt solar PV system is equal to or slightly better than putting the same amount of money into a GIC. Still, most people like to talk payback and it would typically take more than 20 years for a two-kilowatt system to pay for itself. For this reason, the only “economical” solar projects in Ontario are multi-megawatt solar farms that benefit from economies of scale. Over the next two years, however, things could become quite interesting. There are high hopes that the Ministry of Energy will soon expand province-wide a zero-interest solar loan program currently offered in Peel Region.

Meanwhile, industry analysts are predicting a significant fall in the price of solar PV modules in 2009. Research firm New Energy Finance Ltd. predicts the price of silicon-based solar modules could fall 35 per cent by the end of 2009, largely because of falling silicon prices and competition from low-cost thin-film technologies entering the market. It’s a significant development, given that modules can represent up to half the total cost of a fully installed solar PV system. The installation side could also get a boost beginning next year. Hiring someone to mount a conventional solar PV system on a residential rooftop can represent 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the cost of the overall system. But a number of innovative companies are attempting to make installation much simpler, faster and as a result cheaper.

MSR Innovations Inc. of Burnaby, B.C., for example, has developed a “solar roofing system” that changes the economics of solar PV for new home construction or existing homes in need of a new roof. The company, founded by two former employees of fuel-cell developer Ballard Power, has designed a 60 cm by 60 cm polymer tile that can replace, without added cost, most shingle and shake products as a roofing material. The tiles slide into special tracks and easily snap together.

“Once you have the first track in, and it takes about a half-hour to put that up, then all the tracks after that go up quickly, and all the tiles after that go in fast, because you’re just snapping them in by hand,” explains Bill Richardson, director of business development at MSR. A homeowner can do their entire roof with the tiles and the system has been designed so roofers and installers – even the homeowner – can put a roof on more quickly compared with other roofing materials. “It’s definitely a do-it-yourself product,” says Richardson.

So what does this have to do with solar? Well, the tiles are hollow and can be coloured or clear. In the clear tiles, the homeowner has the option of putting an equally sized solar PV panel inside the back. “If you have a whole roof made of our roofing product, then you can take out a row and slide in the PV tiles. It’s like those little puzzles with the Chiclet tiles.”

Each PV tile has two colour-coded wires. “They’re just clipped together in series, like Christmas tree lights,” Richardson says. The benefit of this approach is clear: If you have to build a roof or redo a roof anyway, then you can use MSR’s tiles for pretty much the same cost. The only added cost is the solar cells; the homeowner doesn’t have to pay for any additional labour.

For example, the builder of an entire subdivision might want to choose MSR’s tiles as the roofing material for all the homes, in effect “enabling” every home for solar PV. And unlike existing solar installations, where the panels are added to an existing roof, MSR’s PV tiles blend in with the rest of the roof. The homeowner also has the option, over time, to cover their entire roof with PV tiles – again, with minimal labour.

The company is aiming to commercially launch its product by the end of 2009, and will initially focus its marketing on the California housing market – though there is nothing stopping homeowners or home builders in Ontario from using the product. “We’ve been approached by large roofing companies looking for ways to install solar in their products. At the same time, solar companies have approached us looking to get their products on people’s roofs, says Richardson.

Incentives. Zero-interest loans. Cheaper modules. Low-cost installation. There’s hope yet for all you residential sun worshippers who want to embrace solar power without the financial burn.