TRACKING THE SUN

Tracking the Sun IV; An Historical Summary of the Installed Cost of Photovoltaics in the United States from 1998 to 2010
Galen Barbose, Naïm Darghouth and Ryan Wiser, September 2011

"The capacity-weighted average installed cost of all behind-the-meter systems installed in 2010 – in terms of real 2010 dollars per installed watt...and prior to receipt of any direct financial incentives or tax credits – was $6.2/Watt, and was $1.3/W (17%) below the average for systems installed in 2009…The installed cost of utility-sector systems varies significantly across projects. Among the 20 utility-sector projects in the data sample completed in 2010, installed costs ranged from $2.9/W to $7.4/W, reflecting the wide variation in project size (from less than 1 MW to 34 MW), differences in system configurations (e.g., fixed-tilt vs. tracking and thin-film vs. crystalline modules), and the unique characteristics of individual projects…"

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"…Installations of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been growing at a rapid pace in recent years. In 2010, approximately 17,500 megawatts (MW)5 of PV were installed globally, up from approximately 7,500 MW in 2009, consisting primarily of grid- connected applications. With 878 MW of grid-connected PV capacity added in 2010, the United States was the world’s fourth largest PV market in 2010, behind Germany, Italy, and Japan…Despite the significant year-on-year growth, however, the share of global and U.S. electricity supply met with PV remains small…"