UniSolar PVs are light-weight, flexible, can be wrapped on buildings without puncturing to affix them, gather light longer from dawn till dusk collecting at low angles and can perform well in heat. The latter factors are ignored in standard efficiency comparisons.
UniSolar has no substantial competitors for residential applications. First Solar only markets for large, commercial building applications and utilities. With the high cost of polysilicon thin film is best poised and as far as home installation goes UniSolar is well-positioned to compete. Use of building-mounted solar saves on transmission costs i.e. from distant wind farms, and by the same token does not require building expensive transmission lines that waste alot of energy unless superconducting. In a rush to deal with peak oil or Iran war, when people need cheap electricity to plug in their cars now, they will go with UniSolar shingles and possibly siding and not wait for the utilities. Given the actual amount of energy per day derived from UniSolar PV all things considered, the pricing is competitive. Tellurium, which First Solar's thin film depends on, is in short supply.
