PV industry in mounting crisis as subsidies dissapear

Germany, Italy, Spain France and the US (TGP expired) have now reduced subsidies for PV.  The battle in Germany is about lowering the 3GWp commitment to 1GWp so Germany is unlikely to resume its leadership role.  The table below shows PV data for 2010 and 2011 and two projections for 2012.  Under current circumstances the pessimistic projection seems the most likely.  This would represent a 30% reduction over 2011.  After the industry shakeout stabilizes, this is going to stall further cost reductions in PV panels for a long time.  Panel prices should stabilize around $1.00/Wp.  This still makes PV a factor of at least 2X too expensive in the best sunny locations, maybe more in the US where cheap natural gas is now the low cost producer.  For PV solar to succeed it needs to get a 2X boost, and solve the intermittency and restricted geography problems. 

StratoSolar is the only way to solve all these problems and get growth in the PV industry back on track.