Presumably the utility wouldn’t have purchased these panels if they weren’t priced appropriately. If you’re asking if Oxford can make these profitably, the answer is an obvious “no” because this is part of an initial production run meant to prove the product in the field.
Presumably, but I wonder - people also said the Walgreen's deal with Theranos was proof the technology must work as advertised, but we all know how that worked out.
The fact that I can't find any lifetime data on these panels is what I find really disturbing - that is the #1 problem with perovskite-based cells, and if they really have solved the degradation problem they would be shouting it from the rooftops and publishing their data. Every claim they make about cost hinges on the details of the degradation curves.
" “None of these companies can guarantee the stability of their modules for 25 years,” said Jülich’s Ding. Despite promising results in the laboratory, the durability of perovskite solar cells remains a challenge – both alone and in tandem devices. There is a lack of concrete information from the manufacturers, as well as a lack of measurement data from long-term outdoor use or standards for tough tests that simulate real-life loads of up to 25 years."
I'd love to be wrong, but my prediction is there will be a one-time buy, and the news will go quiet about this. Perovskite has a niche, but it isn't ready for utility-scale solar.
