Two very good points.

- I would like to see this project produce some form of low cost multi pack coating to paint an entire roof, and or walls of house - which would mean the watt per metre factor would be less critical, 'upgrades' could be simply painted over the top.

I guess we could be decades away from this technology, but in the meantime CEP a great step in the right direction.

I don't think that's how capitalism works. The price will be as high as the market can bear, but if they can sell more by taking less profit per unit, they will.

Remember, too, that our research here is public domain. This means that nobody is likely to have a monopoly.

Now solar cell Manufacturing cost of Firstsolar in Malaysia has come down to $0.70/watt though now sold at $2/Watt peak. The Nanosolar cells are sold for $0.99/Watt but is sold out for next few months. These are of conversion efficiency of about 14% Chinese solar cells of crystalline silicon are now priced FOB China at $1.8 to $2/Watt today if bought in bulk These are of efficiency 16 to 18%. So price of solar cells has come down and the conversion efficiency are going up and will have pay back value of few years in places where the electricity prices are high and this electricity prices are going higher day by day with the Oil price going up again which is today at $60/Barrel. This could soon go further up to 75 to $100/Barrel. This is today's positiona on June 1st 2009

The idea of using solar panels with small devices appeals a lot to me. The first example I remember is the solar calculator, capable of running on indoor daylight. It was in common use as far back as the early 1980’s. Recently I have seen lots of roadside signs use solar panels – a lot easier than tying into the grid!
Items such as the solar powered garden light (charges a battery during the day and powers light in the evenings and early mornings), are quite decorative as well as being functional. I have seen an increase in such items. I hope they help drive the market, manufacturing and development and ultimately reduce costs to the public.
Although I don’t have a garden to put a light in, I do use a solar charger to charge batteries.
These batteries power several lamps, torches, remote controls, clocks, radio-headphones, mp3 player, radio, wireless keyboard & mouse. A Solio allows me to charge a mobile phone, or run a fan off.
These ideas are just the same as solar panels, but on a much smaller scale.
Although I would like to have a solar panel capable of charging a computer or TV, there is a lot to consider even at this scale. Where to put it? Panel size, Power production, regulator, battery and of course the cost. There needs to be a financially ineffective to take on a project like this. If any part is priced too high it’s a non starter. If it will take you 5 years to recoup the purchase costs it’s not worth the bother, unless you live somewhere that has a poor mains supply.
For anyone looking to try to power their home with panels, it’s a major task. Price is the primary factor. Solar panels need to be cheap, as do the other components and the installation price. A reasonable price per Watt is about £3 ($5), a few panels are slightly more competitive than this. Avoid anything over £5 ($8) per Watt – it’s a rip off! I would expect prices to drop to $1/per Watt over the next 3 or 4 years, so don’t over invest now.
When you see how small a solar panel can be, with garden lights, it makes you wonder how many other small and medium sized devices could be adapted to use solar power.

personaly my goal is to find ways to use what is out there to better my life

small solar garden lights work well for me.. again i buy the cheep ones at 4$ each (from walmart) and so far in bremerton wa winter not much light up here and long nights during the winter, the solar lights work about 7-10 hours from the little light they get during the day even on cloudy or rainy days I get at least 5 hours at night of light from these 4$ lights...

as for Movieman 's comment about the cost for a full system.. most people i know who use solar also use a grid tie so they dont need batteries saves alot of most systems and also means you dont need to worry about the fact that you might have only made 80% of the power you used for that day another from most my friends who look to solar power the bigest thing i can say is conservation.. most times you wont be able to live the "city slicker" lifestyle if you want to be 100% solar with todays prices...

another sugestion if you find little ways to cut your electricity bill you can take the money you dont spend on power to work towards a more eco friendly solution...