San Francisco hosted an impressive solar show this past July. From the show, five trends for solar power emerged:

• Battery storage should become cost effective to the point where anyone with rooftop solar can install them. Current battery storage costs roughly $650 USD per kWh, and will be roughly $200 USD per kWh in three years.

• Perovskite is a new material that will offer lower cost and higher efficiency solar cells.

• Mass production of solar panels in Germany and China have been driving down costs for solar cells.

• Developing countries are skipping the “Central Power Plant” model and moving towards distributed power.

• The USA is increasingly adopting rooftop solar panels.

Here are some additional facts that emerged from the show:

• A solar panel and battery storage system for a 3 bedroom house is roughly $25,000 USD.

• A new 18 ft high flower shaped unit is a combination of both solar panels and battery storage. This unit blossoms like a flower in the morning, closes up at night, and tracks the sun during the day. This unit is also portable.

• Smart technologies will allow people to control their homes from their mobile device. In addition, the application will inform you of the economic impact of running a particular appliance.