Lowes to Begin Selling Solar Photovoltaic Systems

Don't look now but another big player in the home improvement market is banking on solar taking off this year.  Lowe's has announced that they will begin selling 13 home solar packages on their website and make them available in stores by the end of the month. 

The solar panels themselves will be manufactured by Akeena Solar and Brightwatts, a Florida-based photovoltaics company. The 50-watt panel also comes bundled together with a Duracell power station that has AC and DC outlets and an alarm clock-radio built in.  The price: $350 or $7/watt.  At this price Lowe's must be counting on do-it-yourself consumers to take on solar installation to mitigate the cost. Besides that fact a 50-watt system is not going to power much, maybe a couple of lights or a radio. 

There is also an $80 watt solar system available at a cost of $500 or $6.25/watt manufactured by Sunforce. 

Although this is a positive sign about the prospects of the home solar industry taking off in the near future I do not expect sales of these small home units to take off, at least right away.  In order for do-it-yourself solar to really gain momentum prices need to continue to drop significantly.  No matter how simple you make the installation it still remains a labor intensive job that needs to be done right.  In order to get consumers to take on this responsibility it better be cheaper and provide more significant energy savings.