MTL News Archives for 2013

Solar-cell manufacturing costs: innovation could level the field


September 6, 2013

Study shows that factors other than wages dominate trends in photovoltaic costs, raising the prospect of competitive manufacturing anywhere.

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It's widely believed that China is the world's dominant manufacturer of solar panels because of its low labor costs and strong government support. But a new study by researchers at MIT and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows that other factors are actually more significant -- suggesting that the United States could once again become cost-competitive in photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing.

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