> The recycling part is mentioned on that webpage.
> From reading the information on the First Solar website it seems that the plan is to only sell the panels to authorized suppliers that include recycling as part of the deal.
> That is fine for the grid connect packages that have been offered.
> I think it does mean that we will not be seeing First Solar panels sold cheaply on ebay.
>
> Some good news however.
> If you have a look on ebay there are some good panels coming on the market for under $5 (Aus) per watt.
> Expect to see the price drop even further in the next few weeks as the dozens of companies selling rebated grid connect systems go belly up.
> No need to wait any longer for those cubic devices, cheaper flat panels are here right now.
>
> Woof
> (just for old times sake)
>
> PS If you got rid of the stupid censorship then this forum could return to being the informative and entertaining read that it used to be in the good old days
>

Sorry but the "stupid censorship" simply prevents this forum from being a bitch fest. Most of the information supplied is not censored.......and is usually very informative, but when the useful information ends and mis-information or personal attacks start, the moderators have a duty to themselves and to the remainder of the membership to pull the rubbish up short.

But back on subject, any initiative which assists to drop PV prices seems like a good thing to me. The First Solar panels, despite not really suited to small installations, will certainly have a knock on effect with pricing. One thing that always makes me wonder, is the fact that solar panels here cost so much more than other places. Despite Australia being close to Asia, we still pay considerably more than the US (for example) does. Doesn't make sense to me. Australia appears to be held back by profiteering (by whom, I'm not entirely sure). We have the ideal environmental considerations, we have an educated population, we have a reasonable level of disposable income, we have for some years now had quite reasonable government incentives, yet the price (often up to double what is paid in the US) stymies take-up of a responsible resource. A number of years ago, the main transmission lines feeding the Gold Coast had to be upgraded. The multi-million $ proposal faced extreme opposition from most of the residents. It was suggested to council then, that the money could be spent instead, on a wide scale PV roll-out. The base load would still have been supported, as the claim from the power company back then, was that the Gold Coast would be facing disruptive black outs due to high increase use of air conditioners by an increasing population.......isn't that intermediate and peak load........exactly what PV is most useful for?? Imagine if they had shown some initiative then, and rejected the power line upgrade and instead used the cash to roll out PV. The prices of PV would have dropped considerably, a great start would have been made to a genuine attempt at coal powered offset, and the general population would have affordable power for decades into the future. Of course it is all very simplistic and more accurate figures needed to be done, but I'm afraid the political "easy path" was taken, and the expensive and ugly power lines were installed which cost millions more each year in maintenance.

My simple figures are this. Based on the Qld Govt solar homes incentive, 1000 homes were fitted with a 1kW system......which is suggested that will provide 1/4 of the power requirements of a typical domestic residence here in SEQ. The price to install those systems hovered around the $9k mark. I can't recall the cost of the power line upgrade, but about $500m rings a bell. At the established rate of $9k for 1kW, it would seem that the initial upgrade cost of the powerlines would have paid for over 55k homes to have a 1kW system. At that rate (and given Rovers figures of panels now selling on e-bay for Au$5/W), it's not difficult to imagine panel prices dropping further. (I saw a Lend Lease quote for the First Solar panels and they priced them at Au$3.87/W). To take this further, the power lines need millions each year spent on servicing and maintenance and let's not forget the fact if you need to upgrade the powerlines......chances are you need to be thinking seriously at upgrading those lovely coal fired generators in the not too distant future. The real beauty of the PV is their cost is not in transmission (as they are localised) but in generation of new and relatively clean energy.

Seems to be a proposal that was not taken seriously.....but may just have stacked up superbly. Ah well, let's hope for more lateral thinking in the future!

Ian

PS.....I nearly forgot. The First Solar recycle initiative is not madatory in Australia. I'm not saying that it is not a good thing, but I rang the various Govt departments and established that they had not even heard of it, and suggested the heavy metal component is not something they were concerned about  and rated them similarly to some of the other problems associated with disposal of the likes of fluroescent tubes. Small scale...land fill! Larger scale......worry about it later!