Solar panels to drop prices sooner than expected

A recent research on solar panels showed that 90 per cent of the existing panels could last 30 years than the earlier predicted 20 years lifetime.

The self-regulated EU Energy Institute said that the lifetime fee for solar panels will eventually decrease in the long run due to the recent findings. The institute forecasted that solar panels would have a price point similar to the energy coming from the grid for half of the European households by 2020.

Meanwhile, the price of solar panels plunged 30 per cent last year in Germany, Spain and Italy due to the sudden increase on the volume of manufactured panels and the drop in orders during the recession.

In India and the US, there are ongoing plans for big scale solar power projects. Meanwhile in China, the country is now starting a solar panel programme for the local market which would keep the prices to fall further.

Heinz Ossenbrink from the institute said that more than 90 per cent of the panels that were installed 10 years ago  are still able of perform well, even if there is a slight drop in efficiency. He further added that 40-year solar panels are soon to be introduced in the market.

Grid parity, the ultimate goal for using solar panels, is the point when it is as economical for a consumer to produce energy from home as it is to purchase it from the electric grid. The institute is expecting that Italy will achieve grid parity by next year. It however estimated that northern countries like the UK will reach the target by 2030.