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What Does The Future Hold For Solar Panels

In 2012 the solar panel industry went through a great deal with so much competition throughout the world resulting in a considerable reduction in the price of solar panels. Great for the consumer but perhaps not so good for manufacturers with a drop in profits seen by many and some even going out of business. This was compounded by a drop in the feed in tariff resulting in the home owner/business owner needing a lot more convincing that fitting solar panels to their properties was a good thing.

Solar Panels
(image credit: Living Off Grid)

Internationally we also saw trade wars developing between the likes of China, USA and European countries and these are still on going.

The price of solar panels dropped by anything up to 30% in 2012 but there is some debate about what will happen in 2013 – some feel that because there is a glut of solar panels available that we may see further reductions. It will be interesting to see if those companies who manufacture solar panels of a higher output performance than standard solar panels are able to maintain their premium pricing structure.

Back in 2011, Europe accounted for just about 66% of world wide solar panel installations but, following such things as reductions in feed in tariffs and the overall economic climate in many European countries we may see companies look to expand into other global arenas such as the Middle East, South Africa, Japan and India. It remains to be seen how many solar panel manufacturers/installers are in a financial position to expand into such places.

Here in the UK we continue to read about solar panel farms being approved by numerous council planning committees as they endeavour to meet renewable energy targets laid down by the UK Government. We also hear about many commercial premises having solar panels installed with some very interesting buildings having them installed.

There would appear to be no doubt that solar panels are here to stay but at what price – who knows.

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