What makes a PV system a market price?

Market prices can include items such as smaller-market-share PV systems (e.g., those with premium efficiency panels), atypical system configurations due to site irregularities (e.g., additional land grading) or customer preferences (e.g., pest traps), and specific project requirements (e.g., unionized labor).

Do residential customers finance PV systems?

For instance, many residential customers finance their PV systems, but the benchmarks exclude financing costs, which can represent around 20% of reported market prices. For further research on the complexity of PV markets and reported market prices, see Gillingham et al. (2016) and Barbose et al. (2022).

Which tax credits are based on the upfront cost of a PV system?

The credits for PV system owners are based either on the upfront cost of the system (Section 48/48E Investment Tax Credit or ITC) or the electricity generated by the system (Section 45(d)/45Y Production Tax Credit or PTC).

How much does a PV system cost?

Our operations and maintenance (O&M) analysis breaks costs into various categories and provides total annualized O&M costs. The MSP results for PV systems (in units of 2022 real USD/kWdc/yr) are $28.78 (residential), $39.83 (community solar), and $16.12 (utility-scale).

How much does a PV system cost in 2022?

The current MSP benchmarks for PV systems in 2022 real USD are $28.78/kWdc/yr (residential), $39.83/kWdc/yr (community solar), and $16.12/kWdc/yr (utility-scale, single-axis tracking). For MMP, the current benchmarks are $30.36/kWdc/yr (residential), $40.51/kWdc/yr (community solar), and $16.58/kWdc/yr (utility-scale, single-axis tracking).

What is the IRA & how does it affect PV installations?

The IRA, which was passed into law in August 2022, created incentives for domestic PV manufacturing and deployment that analysts expect to drive significant increases in U.S. PV installations and use of domestically manufactured components (Feldman et al. 2022).