Solar Installed System Cost Analysis. NREL analyzes the total costs associated with installing photovoltaic (PV) systems for residential rooftop, commercial rooftop, and utility-scale ground-mount systems. This work has grown to include cost models for solar-plus-storage systems.
For residential systems, the factor may vary from 0.004 to 0.006 and for benchmark value we use 0.0045421 times capital cost per year, which translates to $12.03/kW/yr.
Because AC-coupled systems have independent PV and battery systems with separate inverters, this hybrid configuration enables redundancy. For instance, if the battery-based inverter fails to operate, the PV system could operate independently as long as the grid is up. Total System Cost = $311.28*P + $300.24*P*H with an R squared value of 99.8.
The cost of the electricity generated by a PV system is determined by the capital cost (CAPEX), the discount rate, the variable costs (OPEX), the level of solar irradiation and the eficiency of the solar cells.
When comparing solar power projects, economies of scale are evident. As the size of solar projects increases, their cost per watt decreases significantly. This is reflected in the average prices from most recent NREL technical report:
What is included in the quoted price of a solar power system?
The quoted price of a solar power system also includes soft costs that are not evident when looking at a completed installation: permitting, inspections, grid interconnection, taxes, transportation, land acquisition, design work, skilled labor, customer acquisition, overhead, profit margins, etc.
Are solar panels financially viable?
As the size of solar projects increases, their cost per watt decreases significantly. This is reflected in the average prices from most recent NREL technical report: Note how the cost per watt is nearly 70% lower in utility-scale PV systems, compared with small residential systems. However, solar panels are financially viable at all project scales.