A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) report shows that
utility-scale solar costs fell 29% last year to roughly $35/MWh on
a levelized basis. Overall, prices for utility-scale solar power
purchase agreements have dropped nearly 75% since 2009, according
to the report. The cost decline is attributed to lower module and
inverter prices, higher module efficiency, and lower labor costs,
though the pace of decline appears to be slowing. The NREL study
indicates that the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative has reached its 2020 cost
target for utility-scale solar systems three years early. The U.S.
Department of Energy Laboratory based its study on 189 PPAs
totaling nearly 11,800 MW. The report warned that increasing
rates of curtailment is reducing the wholesale market value of
solar, but offered that battery storage projects attached to
utility-scale solar is one way to restore value. For more
information, see the NREL's press release here, and the full
