17 August, 2015—The Lawrence Berkeley National Lab at the University of California (USA) released its annual photovoltaic (PV) cost tracking report last week, Tracking the Sun, which finds that prices for distributed solar PV power systems installed in the United States in 2014 are continuing to decline.
The price of small non-residential and residential (≤ 500 kW) PV systems installed in 2014 were US$0.40 per Watt less than in 2013, while the price of large non-residential (> 500 kW) were US$0.70 per Watt less, a decrease of 10 to 20 percent.
The report estimates that installed PV prices have continued to decline 6 to 13 percent in the first half of 2015, a trend that is expected to continue. The decline has been steady for the past five consecutive years, in spite of stable PV module prices.
The report finds the price decline is largely attributed to solar “soft cost” reductions, such as in marketing, system design, labor, permitting and inspections.
Industry News
Price of Installed Solar Photovoltaics Systems Continuing to Drop
Publish Date: 18 August 2015