Letting the Sun Shine on Solar Costs: An Empirical Investigation of Photovoltaic Cost Trends in California

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) cost trends in California, which is by far the largest PV market in the United States. The findings of this work may help stakeholders to understand important trends in the California PV market, and policymakers to design more effective solar incentive programs -- a particularly important objective given therecent announcement from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to establish an 11-year, $3.2 billion incentive program for customer-sited solar. The study statistically analyzes the installed cost of grid-connected PV systems funded by the state's two largest solar rebate programs, overseen by the California Energy Commission (CEC) [operating since 1998] and the CPUC [operating since2001].