The 2020 Solar Module Roller Coaster Ride
Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription, on Patreon, or on Stripe. Help us produce all of the high-quality, original content we publish week after week despite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles.
The most recent count from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Solar Photovoltaic Module Shipments Report proved a sluggish start in January 2020 for the solar industry, followed by a steep incline of shipments in March. The burst of the most impressive numbers ever of solar modules shipped was in March, with manufacturers shipping approximately 2.05 gigawatts of PV modules that month.
The next surging change was due to an insidious virus, manifesting Covid-19 in humans. April shipments diminished significantly as the economy ground to a halt. April shipments slid down quickly, dropping almost 50% from March’s 2.05 gigawatts (GW) to 1.24 GW, the lowest monthly total since November 2019. Take a look, though — the positive news is the change brought a bright moment for some thanks to lower solar module prices. While shipments slowed, the cost per watt peak reached a record low or $0.37, one cent lower than the previous record low of June 2019.
The solar year continues
The solar module price per watt in previous years already showed a shift toward the lowest cost per watt in the history, but it took a steep drop down in March and stayed there in April. Such a significant drop — $0.09 — hadn’t occurred since March to April of 2017, when the average solar module price fell from $0.66 to $0.42 per watt.
The hit from Covid-19 tags onto a big reduction in US solar subsidies, which hit in January 2020, pv magazine reports. “In terms of the ITC, projects were able to quality for the full 30% ITC if they started physical work by the end of 2019, while developers were able to lock in the 30% ITC through a safe harbor provision, by paying for 5% or more of the cost of a project. Considering that modules represent more than 5% of total project costs, securing modules was a safe way to ensure the full ITC.”
The leading state was, as usual, California — by a wide margin. “In March, California led the way with 693 MW of modules shipped, followed by Tennessee, which shipped 144 MW. Rounding out the top five for March comes Massachusetts with 128 MW, Texas with 108 MW, and New Jersey with 99 MW.
“In April, the leaders were California with 418 MW, Massachusetts with 102 MW, Tennessee with 74 MW, Florida with 48 MW, and Idaho with 40 MW. It should be noted that the April shipment data for Texas has been withheld thus far.”
Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent.
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica's Comment Policy
