Photovoltaic System Prices Drop as U.S. Market Grows

摘要

A Dept. of Energy Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report released in December shows that, after remaining virtually unchanged from 2008 to 2009, the price of installed solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the U.S. declined sharply in 2010. "PV has priced itself into the market and is now competitive with other renew-ables," says Art Larson, a spokesman for San Diego Gas and Electric. The utility signed its first three PV projects in 2010. Atotal of 305 Mwof Pvwill come under contract in California's Imperial Valley once construction is complete in 2014. Based on data from 78,000 PV systems, which is 70% of all grid-connected PV capacity installed in the U.S., the report notes that the average cost of systems installed through the California Solar Initiative (CSI) program declined by $1 per watt during the first 10 months of 2010.