What are the benchmarks for PV and energy storage systems?

The benchmarks in this report are bottom-up cost estimates of all major inputs to PV and energy storage system (ESS) installations. Bottom-up costs are based on national averages and do not necessarily represent typical costs in all local markets.

How profitable are distributed solar PV systems?

Approximately 92.73% of cities could achieve positive net profits for power generation from distributed solar PV systems, and 83.72% of all analysed cities showed an IRR greater than 8%, assuming a loan interest rate of 8%, which implied profitability. Grid parity indicates cost-neutral solar PV installations.

How does technological progress affect the solar PV industry?

Technological progress sheds light on less expensive and more commercially viable solar systems, and increases the competitiveness of the solar PV market. Since 2000, the central government has issued around 109 policies that specifically target supporting the solar PV industry.

Are solar PV prices going down?

Nonetheless, rapid price declines in solar PV have not been without controversy. China, for example, has played an outsized role in scaling up the mass production of solar PV cells and modules, comprising 78% of global production in 2021 9, 10 (Fig. 1).

What are the costs of solar PV projects?

The costs of solar PV projects include power generation, predevelopment, construction, and operation and maintenance costs, as well as the discount rate of fixed-term considerations, the depreciation of fixed assets, and/or the residual value of assets (equation (1) 63):

What is PV and storage cost modeling?

This year, we introduce a new PV and storage cost modeling approach. The PV System Cost Model (PVSCM) was developed by SETO and NREL to make the cost benchmarks simpler and more transparent, while expanding to cover components not previously benchmarked.