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Tracking the Sun: Pricing and Design Trends for Distributed Photovoltaic Systems in the United States, 2023 Edition

Publication Type

Report

Date Published

09/2023

Authors

Barbose, Galen L., Naïm R. Darghouth, Eric O'Shaughnessy, Sydney Forrester

Abstract

Berkeley Lab’s annual Tracking the Sun report describes trends among grid-connected, distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) and paired PV+storage systems in the United States. For the purpose of this report, distributed solar includes residential systems, roof-mounted non-residential systems, and ground-mounted systems up to 5 MW-AC. Ground-mounted systems larger than 5 MW-AC are covered in Berkeley Lab’s companion annual report, Utility-Scale Solar.

The latest edition of the report is based on 3.2 million systems installed through year-end 2022, representing more than 80% of systems installed to date. The report describes and discusses key trends related to:

Project characteristics, including system size, module efficiencies, prevalence of paired PV with storage, use of module-level power electronics, third-party ownership, mounting configurations, panel orientation, and non-residential customer segmentation ownership
Median installed-price trends, both nationally and by state
Variability in pricing according to system size, state, installer, equipment type, and other factors, relying on both descriptive and econometric analysis

The report also includes a multi-variate regression analysis to estimate the effects of key pricing drivers for residential systems installed in 2022.

Year of Publication

2023

Notes

The report, published in slide-deck format, is accompanied by a narrative executive summary, interactive data visualizations, a public data file, and summary data tables. All items can also be found at: http://trackingthesun.lbl.gov.

We want to hear from you. If you have specific questions about the report or data or requests for related analytical support from LBNL staff, you can submit those comments through a separate form here, and they will be routed to the appropriate staff.

A brief overview of this study can be found here. A webinar discussing this study was recorded on October 4, 2023, and can be viewed here.