Comments on: Glut Of Solar Panels Is A Good Thing

By: Otis11

Otis11 — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 20:45:00 +0000

Well you might actually be surprised. Many of the most innovative companies that I have seen are very small (<50 Engineers/Scientists).

Most big companies go after guaranteed incremental improvements – the 1-2% better a year. While these absolutely do add up over time, they are hardly innovative.

The true innovation tends to happen at smaller companies or research institutions. The last TRULY innovative large company that comes to mind is Xerox Parc, but when they crushed that innovation in favor of profits, they ended up losing both. Now I probably missed one or two since then, but I believe you get my drift. The large companies have a spark every now and then, but tend to favor small, guaranteed advancements over the more risky, but truly innovative.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 19:56:00 +0000

A lot of the companies expected to fail are not innovators, but small Chinese startups who have neither cost or quality needed to carry them past the weed-out.

It’s unlikely a small manufacturer who is barely in business has a large research division that is cooking up the next big thing.

By: Otis11

Otis11 — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 01:40:00 +0000

Oh yeah, the technology won’t get lost in all likelihood, but the company with it’s expertise that designed the innovation may disappear. Many times only the “essential” part of the team is hired in such cases, which may not include all those who truly made it possible.

By: dynamo.joe

dynamo.joe — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:19:00 +0000

It doesn’t really matter. If someone had an innovative tech and went bankrupt, do you really think GE or First Solar or some Chinese company wouldn’t say “hey, we can pick up their IP for a song”.

By: Otis11

Otis11 — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 02:53:00 +0000

Yeah, the only hard part about this: Can some of the smaller, yet innovative companies weather the rough water ahead to see that “next wave”?

By: JustSaying

JustSaying — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 18:48:00 +0000

Yea, I like the Aussie approach to permitting. You pass the 6 simple question, then you don’t need to get a permit. That and getting the anti-PV out of the standard HOA legal docs. Since HOA meeting happen once a year, and nver have enough people to change the by-laws. You have to go door-door and have people sign a document saying thay want to allow PV. Which is a big pain, and a lot of time.

By: Bob_Wallace

Bob_Wallace — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 17:19:00 +0000

It’s no longer the cost of the solar panels. Panels are being sold for a little over 50 cents per watt. And prices are expected to fall considerably over the next few years.

It’s the rest of the system costs that need to be trimmed.

Permitting costs are way too high. There’s no need for that.