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The United States Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) issued a September 3rd report stating that annual capacity-weighted average construction costs for solar photovoltaic systems continue to decrease.
The conclusion was derived from 2017 data generated by EIA addressing newly constructed utility-scale electric generators in the United States.
Onshore wind turbines and natural gas generators construction costs are stated to have increased slightly.
The three referenced generation technologies were stated to have accounted for more than 90% of the total capacity added to the United States grid in 2017.
The report also notes that since 2013 average costs for the three technologies have fallen:
- Solar photovoltaic generators 37%
- Wind 13%
- Natural gas 4.7%
Developers are stated to have spent nearly $12 billion in construction costs on solar photovoltaic plants. This amounted to 5.0 gigawatts of electric generating capacity.
A copy of the report can be downloaded here.
