Hacker News Reader

Comment by morphle | Hacker News Reader

All these kinds of solar cell systems come down in price over time, not just this Oxford PV research when (and if) it goes into mass production.

I agree that there is no single metric to decide "better". But in most cases properly calculated LCOE, the cost of a kWh over the lifetime of the solar panel system is the single metric that matters. Because why pay more for electricity?

Only in special projects, like solar panels in space, cost is not the most important metric.

View on HN

From what I’ve read, panels are sometimes only a quarter of the price of a residential solar installation. In that case, if the panel cost twice the price for only 25% more power, it might be worth it.

Indeed.

For example utility scale solar can be less than 30% the cost of a residential solar installation, but also adds profit margins, interest rates and distribution costs to a residential customer.

In the later Ringworld books Larry Niven introduced solar 'panels' sprayed onto any surface and wirelessly broadcasting power. The DIY installation costs would now be almost zero.

What’s the cost of domestic installation on a new house? I was looking at some builders adding a roof the other day, putting panels on at the same time wouldn’t add much in labour.

The cost of domestic installation on a new house varies wildly worldwide. In the USA labour and permitting cost dominate, rooftop solar installation costs are almost double what they are in Australia or the Netherlands, where they have the highest percentage of rooftop solar installation.

It is cheaper, especially if you build the modules into the roof, as you then don't need the roof materials. It still suffers a little from being specialist, and so more expensive regardless of material costs.

But it’s a tiny amount, the work isn’t that specialist or hard to learn, the scaffolding is already in place. One or two days labor at most?

Well, for example if your roof isn’t big enough to generate power for the building, you don’t have a choice but to use more efficient panels to minimize your grid energy dependence.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com