Energy Magazine April 2015 | Page 19

THE TRUE COST OF SOLAR ENERGY
( for crystalline PV modules ).”
GMT research is predicting that FBR capacities will double 2014 production of 26,000 metric tons to 46,000 metric tons this year . This trend will continue for the next two years .
Solar energy should be as cheap as grid-supplied electric in just a couple of years . Large commercial facilities with flat roofs or unassigned acreage will save considerable costs . The DOE has passed its milestones while fully expecting to achieve their 2015 deadline for the Nanosolar facility model in California .
SERDP is quoted as saying , “ This model also demonstrates that U . S . - manufactured solar technology and U . S . -generated solar power can provide energy , security and independence to the U . S . military . This range of power plant outputs could be readily constructed at DoD installations nationwide .”
Polysilicon from 2015-2018 Supply , demand , cost and pricing expected during this period based on current annual production capacity is 70,000 metric tons coming online in 2015 . Another 61,000 metric tons is scheduled to come online in 2016 . This will bring global polysilicon capacity to 437,000 metric tons . This is enough to support 85 GW of crystalline silicon for PV module production . The demand for polysilicon in 2016 is already set at 60 GW of PV .
Fluidized bed reactor production costs have an ultimately lower cash floor than the Siemens process . While these prospects for FBR polysilicon are good , there is a lack of newly planned FBR plants set for scaling up and operating before 2018 . GMT says this technology will only represent about 15 percent of the market by 2018 .
Predicted Strong Profits We know through popular solar watchdogs like industry-leading consulting firms that the battle for
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