If you’re starting to research solar energy systems for your home, you’re probably aware that the technology’s constantly improving; untold numbers of geniuses toil in laboratories to improve system performance and reduce costs.

In the course of our reading, we’ve run across some cutting-edge products that will almost certainly contribute to better performance and lower costs in tomorrow’s solar energy systems. What they have in common, for now, is that they’re not currently available in the U.S. But with at least some of them already popular in Europe, that condition is unlikely to last.

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According to the Earth Policy Institute, photovoltaic (PV) production increased to 3,800 megawatts in 2007 for a 50 percent jump. The solar growth trend, however, is not new. Rather, the PV industry has been doubling every two years since 2002, and experts foresee the end of 2008 with a global solar production rate of 12,400 megawatts. This makes solar the fastest growing energy source, above that of wind, ethanol, tidal, and other alternative or conventional energy sources on the market.Here are some related facts on PV from the Earth Policy Institute:

• While the most common material currently used is amorphous silicon, the newest technologies use non-silicon-based materials such as cadmium telluride. A key force driving the advancement of thin-film technologies is a polysilicon shortage that began in April 2004.
• Led by the United States, thin film grew from 4 percent of the market in 2003 to 7 percent in 2006. Polysilicon supply is expected to match demand by 2010, but not before thin film grabs 20 percent of the market.
• The top five PV-producing countries are Japan, China, Germany, Taiwan, and the United States.
• Initial estimates for the United States as a whole indicate that PV incentives, including a tax credit of up to $2,000 available under the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 to offset PV system costs, helped to achieve an incredible 83-percent growth in installations in 2007.
• Spain tripled its PV installations in 2006 to 70 megawatts.
• The average price for a PV module, excluding installation and other system costs, has dropped from almost $100 per watt in 1975 to less than $4 per watt at the end of 2006.

To get a free estimate on PV panels for your home, simply provide your information on our homepage and our certified solar contractors will get back to you within 24 hours!

The Mojave Desert, located in the zone where southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona meet, contains some of the best available solar radiation in the U.S. It also contains the hottest location in North America - Death Valley. It’s no wonder the largest solar power plant in the world is located in the Mojave. Called Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS), it consists of nine solar power plants that have a combined capacity of 354 megawatts (MW), more than any other system of its kind.

Now, Mojave Solar Park is in the works with a completion date set for 2011. At that point, Mojave Solar Park is anticipated to cover nine square miles of desert and generate 553 MW of solar thermal power, far outdoing even SEGS. The capacity of 553 MW is equivalent to powering 400,000 homes.

Mojave Solar Park will run on solar thermal parabolic trough technology by Israel’s Solel Solar Systems, parent company to Solel-MSP-1, which entered a 25-year agreement with PG&E. The agreement is filed with the California Public Utilities Commission. Following its completion, Mojave Solar Park will deliver solar power to PG&E customers in northern and central California.