Solar Modules become Competitive

[cthulu2016]

I thought it was a cool chart.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/rising-sun/

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I take it that the dotted line is a curvilinear linear regression estimate

based on the cost data plotted in the solid black line. Very interesting that the last 4-5 years show a substantial downward departure from that regression line. This may be due to some new forces at work, such as an influx of research money or new technical breakthroughs in manufacturing.

Edited because I finally noticed that the Y axis isn't linear.

[cthulu2016]

2. Yes. I'd guess efficiency

I think the big limiting factor is the commodity price of the chemicals used. Any increase in watts produced by the same amount of expensive elements would be a price drop per watt, which is what I'd guess. Higher efficiency. But a new method of manufacture could also do the trick.

[daleo]

3. Also something called network effects

As a technology becomes more popular, more people join the network, which lowers costs and consumer resistance to change.