A new report offers the latest evidence of solar energy-generated electricity’s approach to cost parity with other forms of generation that send power to the grid. The data comes from over 10,000 solar PV system installations in North Carolina from 2006 to 2011 whose owners, per a state regulation, reported installation costs to the Public Utilities Commission.
North Carolina’s installed renewable capacity has expanded significantly since it became the first state in the U.S. Southeast to institute a renewable energy portfolio standard (REPS). System life was assumed to be twenty years, however the typical life is 30 years.
For many of the utilities, the LCOE of solar PV systems over 10 kilowatts (with federal and state tax credits) were at grid parity or cost-competitive with commercial retail electricity prices in North Carolina in 2011. For all North Carolina electric utilities, solar PV systems greater than 500 kilowatts will achieve grid parity or become cost-competitive with commercial retail electricity prices in 2015 (with federal and state tax credits). For all North Carolina electric utilities, solar PV systems from 10 kilowatts to 500 kilowatts will achieve grid parity or become cost-competitive with commercial retail electricity prices in 2018 (with federal and state tax credits). For the majority of North Carolina electric utilities, solar PV systems smaller than 10 kilowatts (rooftop solar) will achieve grid parity or become cost-competitive with residential retail electricity prices in 2020 (with federal and state tax credits). For many electric utilities, solar PV without federal and state tax credits will be at grid parity or cost-competitive with retail electricity prices in North Carolina in 2020.
Many in North Carolina and other Southeastern states where the solar resource is comparable, Quinlan said, are unaware that the LCOE (even with Renewable Energy Credits and tax credits) has come down so far so soon. The Southeastern states could be a massive emerging market.
About Lorna Saunders
