Solar Industry Update
Why is there such price
variation?
Median Installed Price and 20th/80th Percentiles (2022$/WDc)
$5
$8
.
Modeled and quoted residential PV
system prices between $2.8/W
(EnergySage) and $3.10 (BNEF)
correspond to some of the lowest state
and installer reported pricing; this
discrepancy cannot be explained by
economies of scale (system size).
Percentile Range by Installer (20/80th)
-Median Price by Installer
$4.6 $4.2 $4.2 $4.2
$4.3 $4.2 $4.2 $4.1 $4.0 $3.9 $3.9 $3.7
$0
≤2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9
System Size (kW)
9-10 10-11 11-12 >12
Median Installed Price and 20th /80th Percentiles (2022$/WDC)
$7
U.S
$3.1
$3.6
$3.8
$3.8
$3.8
$3.9
$4.0
$4.2
$4.2
$4.2
$4.3
$4.3
$4.5
$4.6
$4.6
$4.7
$4.8
$5.8
$0
$0
1
NH WI MN OR MA NV DE MD FL TX CA CT AZ WA NY NJ NM CO NC UT RI
Top-100 Residential Installers
Ordered according to median price
100
Source: Barbose, G., N. Darghouth, E. O'Shaughnessy, and S. Forrester. 2023. Tracking the Sun: Pricing and Design Trends for Distributed
Photovoltaic Systems in the United States 2023 Edition. Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
NREL 31View entire presentation