Costs of solar energy continue to fall in the US

August 15, 2013 0 By Erin Kilgore

New report sheds light on costs of solar energy

Solar energy continues to show strong progress throughout the U.S. Solar energy systems are beginning to become more common on rooftops throughout the country, proving popular to businesses and consumers alike. Part of the reason solar energy is gaining a significant amount of attention has to do with the plummeting costs associated with this energy. A new report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory aims to shed some light on this trend.

Residential solar systems are becoming less expensive

The report notes that costs associated with solar energy are dropping due to favorable energy policies and entrepreneurship within the private sector. Rooftop solar systems are seeing the majority of the benefit from these dropping prices as they are quickly becoming the most favored systems among consumers and businesses. The report shows that solar energy is seeing particularly high adoption rates among low and middle income communities throughout the country. These communities may be attracted to the financial benefits that could be gleaned from the use of solar energy as they would be less reliant on fossil-fuels and the electricity provided by utilities.

solar energy costs dropCost of photovoltaic systems drop by 15% during first half of 2013

According to the report, the cost to install residential photovoltaic systems has dropped by 14% in 2012 over costs seen during 2011. The California Solar Initiative, which exists to provide financial aid to those interested in adopting solar energy, has helped drop the costs of installed photovoltaic systems by 15% during the first half of 2013. This trend is expected to continue into the future, especially as more government initiatives are launched to help promote the adoption of clean power.

Cost of solar energy dropping throughout the world

Rapid global market growth has helped drive down the costs related to solar energy significantly over the past year. The U.S. is not the only country that is seeing these costs plummet, of course. Similar trends can be seen throughout Europe, where solar energy has already established a strong foothold, and some parts of Asia. China is currently on its way to becoming the world’s leading producer of photovoltaic modules and the country has played a major part in the lowering costs of solar energy.

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