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This looks cool, but I am afraid it could drive up coffee prices. That would be very sad.

According to wikipedia, caffeine can be synthesized, but is normally just obtained as a byproduct of decaffeination.

If anything would increase in price, it would be energy drinks and other caffeinated beverages. Price increase would probably be minuscule, as I imagine the demand for solar panels is dwarfed by the demand for soda and energy drinks,.

I think it will drive down the price of synthetic caffeine.

Maybe, but that is only because synthetic caffeine is currently not very competitive with the free caffeine produced as a by-product of decaf manufacture. The price of existing naturally-derived caffeine (and possibly the coffee from which it is derived) could rise, which is not a pleasant thought.

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