It's more the energy cost involved in purifying the refined silicon and implanting the dopants without causing defects that hurt panel efficiency. And the glas

It's more the energy cost involved in purifying the refined silicon and implanting the dopants without causing defects that hurt panel efficiency. And the glass covers and aluminum frames. Making them also uses a lot of energy. Roll-to-roll low temperature printed PV (using perovskites on plastic film)[1] potentially has lower production cost for this reason. Put a roll in a shipping container with the controller and inverter electronics, truck it to the site, roll it out on the ground,[2] and hook up the inverter to the grid. Construction costs don't get much lower than that. 1. https://powerroll.solar/unique-solar-film/ https://powerroll.solar/unique-solar-film/ 2. Bulldoze and steamroll the ground first, if you want. Optional.