zawy

Why I'm Not Cutting Back Trina Solar before Earnings

If c-Si degrades only 0.07% per year, then a good design could last as long as the electrical joints and glass cover hold up. 40 years would be only 3% below say 18% initial (assuming your 0.07% is in terms of absolute eff and not as a percentage of eff). Your a-Si is apparently percentage of the eff and not absolute eff.

So this strengthens my and another posters point that you didn't address: it seems clear that CIGS can never beat c-Si for residential installs, and that c-Si residential is currently roughly cost-competitive with FSLR and CIGS when taking lifespan and install costs into account. One thing to remember about residential is that estimates for those install costs are something like 30% for batteries that aren't necessary and not included utility install costs.

Using EEstor capacitors with today's c-Si and an EV is cheaper than using a gasoline combustion engine. At $5/Wp installed and 40 years, it's $0.057/kWh. With a 7% loan and mortgage interest tax deduction, that comes to $0.13/kWh and you don't have to worry about inflation in your electrical bill for things like carbon credits. If EEstor capacitors are sold this year as they claim, energy storage for overnight won't cost much more.