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Monday, Sep 22, 2014

How Much Do Local Regulations Matter? Exploring the Impact of Permitting and Local Regulatory Processes on PV Prices in the United States

While PV modules and other hardware costs have dropped significantly over recent years, non-hardware soft costs have also fallen, but not nearly as sharply. This research report, authored by experts from Yale University, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin and the US Department of Energy, focuses on the impacts of city-level permitting and other regulatory processes on residential PV prices in the US. Key Findings:

Monday, Sep 22, 2014

Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis - v.8.0

Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis has been published since 2008. With their latest edition, Lazard shows that Wind and Solar PV continue to become cost-competitive.

Monday, Aug 25, 2014

Strategies for Mitigating the Reduction in Economic Value of Variable Generation with Increasing Penetration Levels

Looking at 4 variable generation technologies (wind, single-axis tracking PV, CSP with no storage, & CSP with thermal energy storage), the authors look at the benefits of mitigation measures. In particular, the authors are looking at specific mitigation measures to first find those measures that provide an increase to the value of variable generation technologies and then seeks to determine whether such mitigation measures are themselves economically attractive. Some of the conclusions the authors come to: 

Monday, Aug 18, 2014

Comparing Photovoltaic (PV) Costs and Deployment Drivers in the Japanese and U.S. Residential and Commercial Markets

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory releases their new report "Comparing Photovoltaic (PV) Costs and Deployment Drivers in the Japanese and U.S. Residential and Commercial Markets". Key findings from the report found that system prices as well as soft costs were cheaper in Japan. In particular, customer acquisition and system design were both found to be significantly lower in Japan than the US. 

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Report Details Opportunities for Advanced Electronics as PV Penetration Increases

With a projected growth rate of 300% in the US over the next four years, distributed solar presents a number of challenges to the current distribution grid. This report from GTM Research details the new power electronics equipment used to address these challenges and provides descriptions of key markets, financing activity in the sector and state level market forecasting.

Friday, Feb 28, 2014

Solar Market Insight Report 2013 Year in Review

U.S. Solar Market Insight™ is a collaboration between the Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA®) and GTM Research that brings high-quality, solar-specific analysis and forecasts to industry professionals in the form of quarterly and annual reports. Released March 5, 2014.

Monday, Feb 03, 2014

Fraunhofer Institute Explores LCOE of Renewable Technologies

Germany’s Fraunhofer institute recently released a report showing continued levalized cost of energy (LCOE) declines for photovoltaic (PV) technologies in Germany and for concentrating solar power (CSP) and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technologies in higher insolation areas outside of Germany.

Monday, Dec 16, 2013

Solar Homes Fetch Market Premium According to National Lab

A new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory finds that homes in California with rooftop solar installations sell for higher prices than comparable homes without solar. The authors find that the value of homes increases by $5,900 for every kW of solar installed, though this premium decreases by 9% per year of system age.

Monday, Nov 25, 2013

NREL Report Provides Most Granular View of Soft Costs to Date

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released a report that breaks down the ‘soft costs’ associated with the installation of residential and commercial photovoltaic systems in greater detail than ever before, with detailed looks at customer acquisition and system design costs, as well as permitting, inspection and interconnection costs.

Tuesday, Oct 29, 2013

Study Shows Reduction in U.S. PV Installation Labor Costs Possible

A new study from the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Georgia Tech Research Institute finds that U.S PV installation labor costs can be decreased from $0.49/watt to $0.29/watt by utilizing installation best practices. Researchers studied installation practices at 26 sites in the U.S. and Germany to determine current practices and future opportunities.

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