GWS developing proprietary PV solar panel

SCOTTSDALE, USA: GWS Technologies Inc., an alternative energy company developing and marketing solar and wind-powered renewable energy products and solutions, announced that it is working with Shanghai Top Resources Import and Export Co. Ltd. and America China Technology Systems LLC in Shanghai, China, and the Shanghai Institute of Space Power Sources to develop a proprietary 210 watt polycrystalline silicon solar panel specifically adapted for commercial retrofits and the demanding climate of Arizona and the desert Southwest.

The panel is exceptionally lightweight with an aluminum frame designed for ease of installation. Each panel provides guaranteed power of 80 percent rated power output for 25 years and has a two year workmanship guarantee.

Global demand for solar panels is growing at about 50 percent per annum, according to industry sources, with government programs in Germany, Japan, and the United States accelerating the demand.

“There’s a ‘perfect storm’ of federal tax credits, grants, state tax credits and utility incentive programs that have created a solar boom in the Southwest,” said GWS Technologies President Richard Reincke.

“Installing commercial solar systems makes economic sense. In Arizona, a 100-kilowatt system that costs $100,000 can receive utility incentives of 35 percent, a federal tax credit of 30 percent, accelerated depreciation tax savings, and long term electricity production rebates, which reduces a business’s net investment to under a third of the original outlay,” Reincke said.

He added that the rapid escalation of utility rates makes commercial solar installations even more attractive.

All of Arizona's regulated utility companies have been mandated by the Arizona Corporation Commission to spend more than $185 million to subsidize energy efficiency projects and renewable energy (solar power) programs in 2009, and more than $1.2 billion through 2025.

Globally, higher demand for solar energy, triggered by concerns about global warming, are projected to drive an increase in the annual revenues of the global solar equipment industry to $90 billion in 2010, with profit margins expected to accelerate even faster, pushing margins up to nearly 60 percent.

In recent years China has become a major producer of both photovoltaic products and polysilicon, the main ingredient in solar panels.