California has seen massive growth across its solar power sector — utility-scale solar, commercial solar, and residential solar have all boomed in the past decade plus. However, the utilities have been on a mission to squeeze out the little guys (distributed solar energy) for years, and after achieving quite a … [continued]
The history of solar energy is an American success story. Since the creation of the first silicon solar cell 70 years ago, solar leaders have been innovating, improving efficiency, lowering costs, and growing this American-born technology into an essential part of our nation’s energy system.
One of the interesting notes in the recently published US Solar Market Insight report is that the average global solar module price in the 3rd quarter of 2023 was down 30–40% from the average global solar module price in the 1st quarter of 2023. This is primarily due to supply–demand … [continued]
NREL’s Latest PV Cost Benchmark Reports on Potential Cost Impacts of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Manufacturing Credits, Costs for Community Solar, and a New Transparent Cost Model
More states incentivizing low-income community solar
I’ve been wanting to write this article for a while, but this post on X from Chamath Palihapitiya prompted me to action: Look at the explosive growth and falling costs of batteries, solar and wind in the chart below…the numbers are really impressive. This is why I think we will … [continued]
The average construction costs for solar photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, and natural gas-fired electricity generators all decreased in the United States in 2021 compared with 2020, according to our recently released data. Average construction costs fell by 18% from 2020 for natural gas-fired generators, by 5% for wind turbines, and by … [continued]
We estimate that the United States added 6.4 gigawatts (GW) of small-scale solar capacity in 2022, the most ever in a single year. Small-scale solar—also called distributed solar or rooftop solar—refers to solar-power systems with 1 megawatt (MW) of capacity or less. Rooftop solar panels installed on homes make up … [continued]
It’s been 3 years since Tesla rocked the industry with shockingly low solar prices, and a lot has changed in the market. I’m beginning a quest to get solar on 4 homes, and documenting it here. The Challenge Of Shopping For Solar I’m shopping for solar for 4 different homes … [continued]
A rate modification for solar customers in North Carolina was recently approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC). This has an impact on people living in North Carolina who want to use the utility grid that Duke Energy manages for what is essentially a form of energy storage, which … [continued]
