Berkeley Report: Solar Prices Fell Another 17% Last Year

We’ve said it before: home solar is more affordable than ever. And this week, a study released by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy, reveals just how far solar prices have been falling.

Over the last 12 years, installation costs have fallen by 43%. On top of that, in just one year, from 2009 to 2010, the cost of installation fell 17%.

To get pricing on home solar in your area, click here.

Berkeley analyzed data gathered from more than 100,000 residential and commercial installations, excluding large-scale solar farms and solar utilities.

Not only have the costs of the solar panels themselves decreased, but the costs of installing them, as well as system-related equipment like inverters that convert solar into AC electricity, continue to drop precipitously.

Ryan Wiser, co-author of the study, stressed the importance of decreasing non-module costs, explaining that “those are the costs that can be most readily influenced by solar policies aimed at accelerating deployment and removing market barriers, as opposed to research and development programs that are also aimed at reducing module costs.”

In other words, it’s cheaper to invest in streamlining the manufacture of already inexpensive solar components than it is to pile money into research and development.

Fortunately, the solar industry is continuing to do both. Now that the industry has matured, it is on the verge of rivaling coal. To gain an advantage over the competition, solar companies are striving to make solar energy more efficient and even more cost-effective.

Incentives + technology = affordability

Berkeley’s data did not include the savings provided by available incentives offered at the federal, state and local levels, illustrating that solar energy systems are becoming more affordable through technological innovation.

It is important to note, however, that the addition of incentives, as well as a variety of financing options, has enabled more Americans to go solar. In turn, the expanding market has pushed further innovation. It is an advantageous cycle, both to individual consumers and to the country at large.

Incentives that allow residents and business owners to go solar tend to save more public money than they spend, as solar energy lessens the need to add costly new power plants. The costs to build a single power plant typically runs into the hundreds of millions.

A coal-fired power plant in Wisconsin was projected to cost over $1 billion, and to provide power to only about 150,000 homes. That same amount used in the federal solar energy incentive program would cover an equitable number of homes, without injecting harmful emissions into the atmosphere, and with virtually no operating costs for at least 20 years.

Time’s running out on solar rebates

The Berkeley study notes that prices have continued to fall this year, with an 11% reduction in the first half of this year.

The study also notes, however, that some incentive programs are expiring or being decreased. With so many states struggling to balance their budgets, the solar rebate programs most in danger are state rebates.

To take advantage of both the decreased prices and the current, generous incentive programs, the best time to go solar is now.

Click here to check pricing in your local area, or get in touch with a solar contractor.

Posted on September 23rd in Solar News by Brittany.