Making Solar Technology a Competitive Force

A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study, Tracking the Sun II, found that PV costs declined from 1998 through 2007, causing a considerable impact on the overall installed cost of solar. But costs have remained stagnant since. In identifying the elements that drive this side of the equation, we can find areas for improvement.

For instance, the actual assembly of solar PV systems is highly labor intensive. Installers often spend an exorbitant amount of time on-site putting together non- factory assembled racking systems. Instead, what if they were manufactured in a standardized manner, allowing for easy and quick on-site installation?

The fractured nature of the solar market is another hurdle. Today, a host of non-interchangeable, proprietary technologies has prevented significant cost reductions. In addition, without federal guidelines, a hodgepodge of undefined best practices and regulations has created state-by-state disparity in installed costs of solar. Standardizing regulations and technologies could encourage greater adoption and, in turn, economies of scale.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced new funding for the solar industry. Nearly $170 million could be distributed to several efforts aimed at driving the U.S. solar market. The bulk of that funding, about $125 million, seeks to spark the PV manufacturing industry in the U.S. It’s an important move, and one that will help promote competition across the market.

Whether the U.S. will ever catch or surpass China in the solar PV market remains to be seen.

RMI