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Deconstructing Solar Photovoltaic Pricing

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  • Kenneth Gillingham, Hao Deng, Ryan Wiser, Naim Darghouth, Gregory Nemet, Galen Barbose, Varun Rai, and Changgui Dong

Abstract

Solar photovoltaic (PV) system prices in the United States display considerable heterogeneity both across geographic locations and within a given location. Such heterogeneity may arise due to state and federal policies, differences in market structure, and other factors that influence demand and costs. This paper examines the relative importance of such factors on equilibrium solar PV system prices in the United States using a detailed dataset of roughly 100,000 recent residential and small commercial installations. As expected, we find that PV system prices differ based on characteristics of the systems. More interestingly, we find evidence suggesting that search costs and imperfect competition affect solar PV pricing. Installer density substantially lowers prices, while regions with relatively generous financial incentives for solar PV are associated with higher prices.

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  • Kenneth Gillingham, Hao Deng, Ryan Wiser, Naim Darghouth, Gregory Nemet, Galen Barbose, Varun Rai, and Changgui Dong, 2016. "Deconstructing Solar Photovoltaic Pricing," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 3).
    • Handle: RePEc:aen:journl:ej37-3-gillingham
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    Cited by:

    1. Germeshausen, Robert, 2016. "Effects of Attribute-Based Regulation on Technology Adoption - The Case of Feed-In Tariffs for Solar Photovoltaic," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145712, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. O'Shaughnessy, Eric, 2019. "Non-monotonic effects of market concentration on prices for residential solar photovoltaics in the United States," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 182-191.
    3. Nemet, Gregory F. & O’Shaughnessy, Eric & Wiser, Ryan & Darghouth, Naïm & Barbose, Galen & Gillingham, Ken & Rai, Varun, 2017. "Characteristics of low-priced solar PV systems in the U.S," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 501-513.
    4. O’Shaughnessy, Eric & Margolis, Robert, 2018. "The value of price transparency in residential solar photovoltaic markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 406-412.
    5. Sébastien Houde & Wenjun Wang, 2022. "The Incidence of the U.S.-China Solar Trade War," CER-ETH Economics working paper series 22/372, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research (CER-ETH) at ETH Zurich.
    6. Gregory F. Nemet & Laura Diaz Anadon & Elena Verdolini, 2017. "Quantifying the Effects of Expert Selection and Elicitation Design on Experts’ Confidence in Their Judgments About Future Energy Technologies," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 315-330, February.
    7. Nemet, Gregory F. & Lu, Jiaqi & Rai, Varun & Rao, Rohan, 2020. "Knowledge spillovers between PV installers can reduce the cost of installing solar PV," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Nemet, Gregory F. & O'Shaughnessy, Eric & Wiser, Ryan & Darghouth, Naïm R. & Barbose, Galen & Gillingham, Ken & Rai, Varun, 2017. "What factors affect the prices of low-priced U.S. solar PV systems?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 114(PB), pages 1333-1339.
    9. Schauf, Magnus & Schwenen, Sebastian, 2023. "System price dynamics for battery storage," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    10. Kraschewski, Tobias & Brauner, Tim & Heumann, Maximilian & Breitner, Michael H., 2023. "Disentangle the price dispersion of residential solar photovoltaic systems: Evidence from Germany," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    11. O'Shaughnessy, Eric & Nemet, Gregory F. & Pless, Jacquelyn & Margolis, Robert, 2019. "Addressing the soft cost challenge in U.S. small-scale solar PV system pricing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    12. Barbrook-Johnson, Peter & Tankwa, Brendon, 2023. "Increasing inequality between countries in key renewable energy costs," INET Oxford Working Papers 2023-20, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    13. Pradhan, Ashis Kumar & Rout, Sandhyarani & Khan, Imran Ahmed, 2021. "Does market concentration affect wholesale electricity prices? An analysis of the Indian electricity sector in the COVID-19 pandemic context," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    14. Evert Reins, 2021. "Seductive subsidies? An analysis of second-degree moral hazard in the context of photovoltaic solar systems," IRENE Working Papers 21-03, IRENE Institute of Economic Research.
    15. Gao, Xue & Rai, Varun & Nemet, Gregory F., 2022. "The roles of learning mechanisms in services: Evidence from US residential solar installations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    16. Ossenbrink, Jan, 2017. "How feed-in remuneration design shapes residential PV prosumer paradigms," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 239-255.
    17. Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki & Wang, Derek, 2017. "Measuring scale efficiency and returns to scale on large commercial rooftop photovoltaic systems in California," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 389-398.
    18. Shimada, Hideki & Honda, Tomonori, 2022. "What drives households’ choices of residential solar photovoltaic capacity?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    19. Wang, Derek D. & Sueyoshi, Toshiyuki, 2017. "Assessment of large commercial rooftop photovoltaic system installations: Evidence from California," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 45-55.

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