
Solar cell efficiency is increasing, cost is decreasing,
and government incentives are making adoption of solar
PV more attractive. However, there is still a resistance
to installing standard PV panels where they cause a visible
blight to architectural or historic elements.
Gold Coast Solar products eliminate this
barrier to adoption by offering colored and stylized solar
panels that blend with and accent the architectural elements
of buildings and historic places.
Gold Coast Solar is the only 100% American
owned and operated company who offers colored Stylish
Solar Panels™ that:
• Compliment architectural aesthetics
• Are equally efficient and cost competitive
to other black panels
• Can be mounted in and color matched to
architectural features such as awnings, railings, sculptures,
and roofing systems.
GCS's
patent pending high efficient PV mono/polycrystalline
panels are designed and engineered to look better than
black solar panels while performing equally well based
on testing done at the US Department of Energy's National
Renewable Energy Laboratory.
With an exponential estimated growth
in the PV industry, Stylish Solar Panels™
are positioned for incredible growth in sales, and market
acceptance. The general target market would be hot, sun-drenched
climates like California, Arizona, Hawaii, Texas, Nevada,
and Florida. California is the largest grid connected
United States market, with a total installed capacity
exceeding 898 MW. Furthermore, the solar market has grown
over 1,500% in the past eight years, from less than a
gigawatt to well over 15 gigawatts. For nearly a decade,
the industry has surged ahead with a compounded annual
growth rate over 40% and is set to triple in size in the
next seven years. The market growth in the next 20 years
is estimated to be 665%.
The
United States has enormous, long-term growth potential
for sustainable PV.
The
United States is home to an excellent photovoltaic resource.
While the Southwest provides the highest insolation, or
exposure to the sun’s rays, even northeastern states
offer insolation that is, at a minimum, equal to or greater
than the resources of Germany, who has invested more per
capita than the US.
Electricity
demand in the United States is the highest in the world.
Electricity consumption in the United States is roughly
7.2 times the total in Germany and nearly 15 times as
much as Spain. In 2010, U.S. PV installations more than
doubled to an estimated 820 MW, up from 435 MW in 2009.
While other markets such as Spain, Germany and the Czech
Republic have faced drastic shifts, the United States
has seen steady, if incremental, year-over-year growth.
Though there is ample availability of land for PV development,
particularly in the Southwest, the urban and suburban
areas represent a still largely untapped distributed expanse
of power-producing surface area that is already connected
to the grid. Increasing utilization of available urban
surfaces will increase the need for PV products that can
address the aesthetic considerations of these areas. Gold
Coast Solar specializes in delivering innovative
applications of colored Stylish Solar Panels™,
Architectural Accents™, and built-in
solutions.