Aug. 27, 2013: Installed Price of Solar PV Continues to Decline
Installed PV Prices in 2012 Fell by a Range of Roughly $0.30/W to $0.90/W
BERKELEY, Calif. — The installed price of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2012 and through the first half of 2013, according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost tracking report produced by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).
Installed prices for PV systems in 2012 fell by a range of roughly $0.30 per Watt (W) to $0.90/W, or 6 to 14 percent, from the prior year, depending on the size of the system. “This marks the third year in a row of significant price reductions for PV systems in the U.S.,” said Galen Barbose of LBNL’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, one of the report’s co-authors. Within the first six months of 2013, PV system prices in California fell by an additional 10 to 15 percent, and the report suggests that PV system price reductions in 2013 are on pace to match or exceed those seen in recent years.