This report benchmarks U.S. solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed costs as of the first quarter of 2020 (Q1 2020). We use a bottom-up method, accounting for all system and project development costs incurred during installation to model the costs for residential, commercial, and utility-scale PV systems, with and without energy storage. We attempt to model typical installation techniques and business operations from an installed-cost perspective. Costs are represented from the perspective of the developer/installer; thus, all hardware costs represent the price at which components are purchased by the developer/installer, not accounting for preexisting supply agreements or other contracts. Importantly, the benchmark also represents the sales price paid to the installer. Therefore, it includes profit in the cost of the hardware 1 ; the profit the installer/developer receives is reported as a separate cost category on top of all other costs to approximate the final retail price paid to the installer/developer. However, we do not include any additional profit, such as a developer fee or price gross-up, which is common in the marketplace. We adopt this approach owing to the wide variation in developer overhead and profit in all three sectors (residential, commercial, and utility-scale), where project pricing depends greatly on the region and project specifics such as local retail electricity rate structures, local rebate and incentive structures, competitiveness of the environment, and overall project or deal structures. Benchmarks also assume a business environment without any impact from novel coronavirus pandemic. Finally, our benchmarks are national averages calculated using average values across all states. Table ES-1 summarizes the first-order benchmark assumptions. Table ES-1. Benchmark Assumptions Unit Description Values 2019 U.S. dollars (USD)a System Sizes PV systems are quoted in direct current (DC) terms; inverter prices are converted by DC-to-alternating current (AC) ratios; storage systems are quoted in terms of kilowatthours or megawatt-hours (kWh or MWh) of storage or the number of hours of storage at peak capacity. PV Sector Description Size Range Residential Residential rooftop systems, monocrystalline silicon modules 4kW-7 kW Commercial Commercial rooftop with ballasted racking and fixed-tilt groundmounted systems, monocrystalline silicon modules 100 kW-2 MW Utility-scale Ground-mounted systems, monocrystalline silicon modules, fixedtilt and one-axis tracking 5-100 MW a The dollar-per-watt total cost values are benchmarked as three significant figures, because the model inputs, such as module and inverter prices, use three significant figures.
