Photovoltaics (PV) have a sunny future in the building industry.
After a number of false starts over the past 30 plus years, PV
has the potential to become a significant contributor to the
U.S. energy supply in the coming decades. Rising fossil fuel
prices, environmental concerns and PV technological advances are
converging to make PV competitive with other conventional
utility-delivered electric power. The electrical contracting
firm needs to be aware of this emerging market and be prepared
to take advantage of it.  Technological advances  When
considering PV technological advances, people usually focus on
PV conversion efficiency. Conversion efficiency provides a
measure of how effectively a PV technology converts sunlight to
electricity. The amount of electric energy produced by a PV
installation over its useful life is almost directly
proportional to its conversion efficiency that will result in
the amount of savings or revenue from the PV installation.
While conversion efficiency is an important factor