Talk:Low-cost photovoltaic cell

Reality check - fact or fantasy
It seems there's a good deal of taking strongly financially & politically motivated statements at face value in this article. Writers should bear in mind that solar PV is an industry with a long history of major hype / fantasy, and to simply believe whatever one reads from its participants is quite unrealistic.

"The solar industry can potentially reduce costs 40 percent over the next five years as the silicon shortage ends."

Maybe, maybe not. At best its a hope, a fantasy, at worst its yet another attempt to rekindle the hope of PV being potentially competitive at some point in the future, and thus secure funding.

"George W. Bush has set 2015 as the date for grid parity in the USA."

Mr Bush has no way to predict the timing or even the occurrence at all of the amount of technical progress that would be required to achieve this parity. Frankly, nor have the companies involved. PV progress is not comparable to PC progress. PV's history has so far included lots of claims of this type, none of which have ever come true. Perhaps it'll happen one day, but there's nothing in the pipeline that's about to make it so, and no valid way to predict when or even if it will occur.

"Grid parity was delayed by the higher than expected cost of solar-grade silicon"

Thats no more the cause than removing one nail would be the cause of a building to collapse. Just another attempt to generate hope & investment in a technology that despite decades of research is yet to deliver that long promised goal of a competitive energy supply.

"A number of analysts have predicted that polysilicon prices will drop as companies build additional polysilicon capacity more quickly than the industry’s projected demand."

Why would any company build manufacturing facilities to produce expensive products in excess of demand? Why do you think this statement was really been made?

"The development of the Renewable Energy Corporation´s Singapore site will enable REC’s ability to deliver polysilicon solar products that can compete with traditional energy sources in the sunny areas of the world without government incentives."

For mainstream supply, not the slightest hope. Just look at the figures. The above is only true in a tiny minority of apps where bringing in grid power would be very costly.

"On the other hand, the cost of producing upgraded metallurgical-grade silicon, also known as UMG Si, can potentially be one-sixth that of making polysilicon."

'Potentially!' Wiki is for facts not fantasy. What _is_ the cost. Even if this dream comes true, it won't reduce panel costs by anywhere near the same amount, and solar PV still won't be competitive.

"Although its conversion efficiency is less than the best thin film cells, its price/performance ratio should be high enough to allow them to compete with fossil fuel electrical generation."

Should be? Is it or isn't it? No it isn't.

"Organic solar cells is a relatively novel technology, promising substantial price reduction (over thin-film silicon) and better energy payback time. These cells can be processed from solution, enabling the possibility for a simple roll-to-roll printing process, leading to a cheap, large scale (square kilometers per month) production."

Once again this is a fantasy, a distant hope, not actual fact. The solar PV industry has a long history of talking about fantasies, and not meeting them. How else does one keep getting investment money for a technology that can't compete.

"The technology of solar arrays of nanoantennas is expected to be highly efficient with regard to capturing energy (80% efficiency) and in the process of creating the device (cents per yard)."

Once again this is a fantasy that might or might not work out. The fact that investment is ongoing in other types of cell demonstrates that a whole lot of people in the PV industry believe this one won't work out.

Wiki articles need to be factual. Where a section on hopes for the future is included, it needs to be made clear this is what they are, and a realistic take on the situation presented. 86.4.152.167 (talk) 22:49, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Merge to Solar cell
This content overlaps what is already in Solar cell; unique parts can be merged. Discussion of solar power economics is better at Solar power. --Wtshymanski (talk) 15:53, 15 October 2010 (UTC)