The solar industry consists of several different but connected
functions. These include module manufacturing, project development
for utility scale or distributed generation (commercial and
residential), construction and installation, financing, and asset
management and operation. Over the relatively short period of the
last decade, inefficiencies have been largely squeezed out of
module manufacturing and other early parts of the value chain.
Instead, the focus on value has shifted toward the back end of the
chain—developing and operating generation assets. Where this
value is available and how it is monetized depends to some extent
on whether the assets are utility scale or distributed. With
respect to utility scale solar, current values depend in part on
declining equipment costs and on continued mandates and subsidies
for renewable energy, weighed against the decline in natural gas
costs in the United States. For distributed generation, value has
been captured by
