Solar Panel Price Trends

Decline in price of residential solar since 2000.

Solar panel price trends.

Many factors including government policies fossil fuel costs solar energy technology advances commodity prices and even public awareness of the climate crisis impact. In 2019 the solar industry generated 18 7 billion of investment in the american economy. National data october 2020. Solar companies can typically get a single solar panel at a price of 0 75 per watt.

In the real world this works out to about a 10 cost decrease each year. Today it s around 0 13 per watt or about 600 times less. The most recent official data from the doe funded lawrence berkeley labs published in september 2019 found that the median cost of residential solar panels is 3 70 watt. Back in 1977 the price of solar photovoltaic cells was 77 for just one watt of power.

Changes in solar panel cost over time can be explained by swanson s law which states that the price of solar pv modules decreases by about 20 percent for every doubling in global solar capacity the law is named after richard swanson founder of high. Solar pv electricity costs have fallen 73 since 2010 according to a new cost analysis from the international renewable energy agency irena. Average solar panel cost. However solarreviews handles more than 1 000 quote requests per day and the current average price we see on our marketplace is 2 64 per watt.

The average solar panel payback period is 7 to 12 years and solar energy saves 600 to 2 000 per year on electricity costs. There is now enough installed solar energy capacity in the u s. The average cost to install solar panels is from 10 626 to 26 460 after tax credit for a 6kw to 12kw system to power an entire house. The price decreases over the past ten years are a major reason why homeowners are increasingly interested in installing solar panels.

The best solar pv projects could be delivering electricity for an equivalent of three cents per kwh or less within the next two years. The cost has generally been following swanson s law which states that the price of solar drops by 20 for every doubling of shipped product. However if a homeowner is trying to buy one or two panels on their own for a small diy project they will likely pay closer to 1 per watt. Therefore if the solar panel output is 250 watts that single panel might cost you 187 50.

Furthermore solar pv costs are expected to be cut in half by 2020. Most solar panels last for 50 years have a 25 year warranty and start generating a return on investment after 8. The solar energy industry is part of a very dynamic market. The solar industry even has its own name swanson s law for the falling price of solar panels.

As of fall 2019 nearly 250 000 americans work in solar more than double the number in 2012 at more than 10 000 companies in every u s.