[following is from the US govt DoE report on photovoltaic business in 1999. 77 peak mW were shipped. This is less than five percent of the conventional (ie fossil-fuelled) generating capacity installed in the same period. Given that PVs average 20% or less of their peak potential (the sun doesn't always shine, even in PV-land), this means that PV's still have a vanishingly small market-share. Note that according to the US DoE, US utilities plan to install 52 000 mW of new capacity by 2007. Of this the total amount of solar-powered plant is less than 10 megawatts, and the total amount of planned windpower is slightly more than ten megawatts. In the Mojave desert, 80 mW of new capacity will be installed ... all powered by natural gas. Mark] Annual Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Manufacturing Activities Tables, 1999 Highlights Shipments of photovoltaic modules and cells reported by U.S. manufacturers in 1999 reached a record level of 77 thousand peak kilowatts, up 52 percent from 1998. This marked the fourteenth consecutive annual increase in photovoltaic shipments. Photovoltaic devices directly convert the sun�s energy to electricity. Peak kilowatts refer to the maximum electric power output of the cells and modules. The growth in shipments is due largely to a strong export market, which accounted for 72 percent of the shipments in 1999. Photovoltaic use in the U.S. has traditionally been for stand-alone units to provide electricity at remote areas. In 1999, however, shipments of photovoltaics for connection to the electric power grid increased 75-percent over 1998 levels. Equally significant was the decrease in the average price of cells and modules. Average PV cell prices dropped one third between 1998 and 1999 to $2.01 per peak watt. Module prices also declined, from $3.94 per peak watt in 1998 to $3.62 in 1999. The net impact of higher shipments and lower prices was to increase the value of shipments 21 percent in 1999 to $224 million. Shipments of solar thermal collectors increased by 11 percent (as measured by square feet) between 1998 and 1999. The value of these shipments decreased from $28 million to $26 million, because of a 17-percent decrease in the average per square foot price of solar collectors. More than 90 percent of solar thermal collector shipments were to the residential sector for use as swimming pool heaters. Solar thermal collectors use the sun�s energy to heat a working fluid (often water) for heating or generating electricity. http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/solar.renewables/page/solar/solarphoto_tab.html _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
