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Early Adopters Make Solar More Available posted on Tuesday, 23 September 2008

Solar energy costs too much right now for many consumers. I hear it from people all the time. They want to be “off the grid” and protect the environment but they feel the up-front costs are just too great.

By Andrew Duggan

It’s an unfortunate truth at present. However, it can change much faster than you might think.

The key is simple: early adopters.

You know them. Those dedicated souls that camped out in sleeping bags in front of the Apple store to get the iPhone on Day One. The ones who absolutely MUST HAVE the new product RIGHT NOW and will do just about anything to get it.

In fact, these early adopters are a powerful force. They start the process by which economies of scale can bring down costs and make a new technology available for everyone.

Check out this graph comparing the Producer’s Price Index (the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output) of personal computers against the number of computers in use, through the time period of the computer boom. As more people joined in the computer revolution, economies of scale increased, and the cost of production declined. This cost decrease then drove even further sales, a feedback loop that created a massive increase in our collective access to technology.

From 1995 to 2005, the number of computers in use worldwide rose from 329 million to 1.6 billion. During the same time period, the PPI for personal computers declined from 850.1 to 85.5, a 90 percent price decrease over a 10 year period.

Imagine what a 90 percent decrease in the price of solar panels would do for the future of America and the world. It would open the door to cheap, plentiful energy for all mankind.

We know solar energy is more expensive than it needs to be right now. However, there are those of us fortunate enough to have the means to adopt it, and we need to do so. As we make this investment, we will expand the market for solar and encourage new firms to enter.

We can be early adopters. We can be the driving force that tips this process over and creates affordable solar energy for everyone.

And luckily, no sleeping bags will be required.

Andrew Duggan is the founder and CEO of Dynamic Energy Partners and founder of the non-profit organization, We Can Power The World. He is the author of two business books: Lessons of the Future - Thriving Today by Understanding Tomorrow and Unlimited Energy - How Renewable Energy Investments Will Drive Global Change in the 21st Century. E-mail him at aduggan@dynamicenergypartners.com

Posted by bizSanDiego: San Diego Business News