PV Cost and Manufacturing Facts
(IEA,US, Canada, Japan)

GLOBAL (IEA)

The total capacity of solar PV panels in 20 large countries increased
35% last year and has grown nine-fold in the past decade, according to the International Energy Agency. The countries installed 256,641 kW of PV in 2001, boosting their cumulative total to 982,203 kW.

http://www.re-focus.net/news/201102_1/

UNITED STATES

The price for solar PV cells and modules produced in the United
States has dropped 38% during the past decade, according to data from the U.S. Department of Energy. Twenty-one companies were involved in the production of 88,221 kWp of solar PV in 2000, says the Energy Information Administration in its 'Renewable Energy Annual' report. The total of 85,155 kW of crystalline silicon and 2,736 kW of thin-film silicon is an increase from the 12,492 and 1,321 (respectively) produced in 1990. The cost was US$3.46 per peak watt for modules and $2.40 for cells, compared with $5.69 and $3.84 a decade earlier.

http://www.re-focus.net/news/201102_2/

CANADA

The government of Ontario will allow individuals to claim a tax
credit for the cost of solar PV panels, and has set a goal of converting 100,000 homes to solar power within five years. The province deregulated its electricity market earlier this year, but severe price increases during the summer have prompted the government to encourage the development of alternative generation facilities. The plan would eliminate taxes for the installation of solar and wind facilities, as well as natural gas and hydroelectric sites, and would drop property taxes for new assets that generate electricity from renewables. It will allow a 100% corporate tax write-off for the cost of assets used to generate green power and introduce a capital tax exemption for those assets. It would also provide a sales tax rebate for building materials used to construct the facilities and create a corporate income tax holiday for revenues derived from the sale of new green power sources.

http://www.re-focus.net/news/201102_8/

JAPAN

Houses with solar-cell panels attached to roofs or verandahs are
rapidly becoming a familiar sight in Japan against the backdrop of growing
moves to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to prevent global warming. The spread of solar-cell systems that generate household electricity is also being helped by subsidies provided by the central and local governments and surplus electricity-purchase systems of power companies.

http://japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=4&id=239387