National Labs Find Continued PV Installed Price Declines in U.S.
A new briefing released from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) documents continued installed price declines in U.S. photovoltaic installations. The authors find price declines of 6-14% from 2011 to 2012, and 6-7% per year since 1998.
Report finds Chinese Success in Solar Manufacturing Replicable in U.S.
A new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) finds that Chinese success in solar manufacturing is driven primarily by scale and supply-chain development, instead of low labor costs and/or direct subsidies. The report suggests that Chinese success could be replicated in the U.S.
Solar Market Insight Report 2013 Q2
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 September, 2013.
LBNL Releases Tracking the Sun VI
LBNL's Tracking the Sun VI is their annual summary of photovoltaic pricing, including installed pricing data from 1998-2012 with an early look at preliminary 2013 data.
IREC Releases 2012 U.S. Solar Industry Overview
The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) recently released its 2012 U.S. Solar Market Trends report. While the data aligns closely with previously released reports on the 2012 solar market, IREC’s report also features installed capacity figures for 47 states, DC and the territories.
Rocky Mountain Institute Examines Distributed Solar PV Cost/Benefit Studies
In its review of 15 distributed solar PV benefit and cost studies, the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) finds significant variability in estimated distributed PV values, owing to differences in methodology, local context, and input assumptions. RMI highlights areas in which consensus and standardization could be established to allow for better comparison between studies.
California Solar Initiative 2013 Annual Program Assessment
In July 2013, the CPUC issued its annual report on the progress of the California Solar Initiative, showing that the program has installed 66 percent of its total goal, with another 19 percent reserved in pending projects. This equals an estimated 1,629 megawatts (MW) of installed solar capacity at 167,878 customer sites in the investor-owned utility territories through the end of the first quarter of 2013, enough to power approximately 150,000 homes and avoid building three power plants.
Financing through Public Capital Vehicles Can Lower Solar Costs 10%
A recent NREL report finds that the use of public capital (asset-backed securities, investment pools and real estate investment trusts) can lower the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) by up to $0.16 for residential projects and $0.08 for utility projects. As consumer confidence in securitization grows, prices could fall by as much as 30%.
Favorable Permitting Practices Can Reduce PV Costs 4%-12%
A recent Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report finds that streamlined city permitting practices can reduce the cost of installed PV systems by $0.27-$0.77 per watt, relative to cities with less favorable permitting standards. Development times can be shorted by an average of 24 days, under favorable permitting standards.
40% of U.S. Supermarkets at Grid-Parity for Installed PV
A recent NREL report finds that in 2011, 17% of U.S supermarkets were in utility territories where PV could be installed at or below the cost of traditional generation. In 2012, they estimate that this percentage increased to 40%. The report is NREL’s first step in examining PV grid-parity at all big-box retailers.