Solar Industry Update

Why is there such price variation? Financing and other costs are likely responsible for a larger portion of the additional discrepancies in residential PV reported price. - TPO Finance: Sunrun, which finances most of its customers' systems, reported a 2022 value per customer of $5.80/W, which represents the net present value of contracted cash flows, tax credits, and other benefits, including an assumed contract extension. Financing and operating a PV system for 30 years requires additional costs beyond just installation. Its 2022 "creation cost" was $4.17/W compared to its average PV system sales price of $3.30/W. - Loan finance: Loans, which represented most residential PV system installations in 2022, incur additional costs to set up. Additionally, many loan providers charge "dealer fees" to lower the interest rate of the loan, which show up in the reported price of a system. - Other costs not necessarily quoted (or modeled) in a standard PV system, but which may be reported in a system price, include certain roof repairs, main panel upgrades, and battery storage (which were attached to 10% of residential PV in 2022). NREL 32

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