NPR had a story on Japanese efforts to encourage solar power. David Kestenbaum found that solar panels cost $20,000 to install and break-even after 20 years. Kyocera lost money for 32 years on solar panel production, only earning profits in the past two or three years. An interesting note closed the report.

The industry is growing quickly ? maybe too quickly. Solar companies now consume about as much silicon as the entire electronics industry, temporarily causing the price of silicon to double, pushing costs up, not down.

Note that Kestenbaum is sure the doubling in price for silicon is just temporary, although industry experts seem to view the time frame as the next five to ten years.