Cost of installing solar panels falls

A collapse in the price of panels used to collect power from the sun’s rays is driving down the price of installing the systems at homes and businesses.

The average pre-incentive cost of residential and commercial solar systems in the United States declined by 11 percent in the first half of 2011, according to a report recently released by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That decline comes following a 17 percent price drop in 2010.

Thanks to a reworking of funding mechanisms for renewable energy projects approved by Connecticut lawmakers in the last session, $8 million a year is being made available in each of the next 10 years to provide incentives to homeowners who want to install solar power systems at their homes, said Michael Trahan, executive director of a Higganum trade group, Solar Connecticut.

“The decrease in price is all a matter of supply,” said Trahan. “Some European countries have pulled back incentives for solar panels and the ones that would have been installed overseas are now being diverted to the United States.”

Solar Connecticut has organized an Oct. 1st showcase homes and businesses that have installed solar power systems. The tours, which will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are free of charge to the public, will be Hamden, New Haven, Branford and Madison, Trahan said.

“The current average cost of installing solar panels to provide power for a 2,000 square foot home has homeowners paying $15,000 on a $30,000 system,” he said. “This time last year, the homeowner’s share would have been $20,000 of a $40,000 system.”

The money comes from funds paid by Connecticut ratepayers into a fund managed by the Connecticut Energy Finance and Investment Authority, Trahan said. The money had formally been managed by the Authority’s predecessor, the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, he said.

To make it even more attractive install residential solar power systems, Trahan said state officials are working on developing a so-called “green bank” which would provide low cost financing for homeowners.

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