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Solar
Electricity
Global Benchmark Price Indices |
| August
2010 Survey Results |
| Solarbuzz
Home |
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Solarbuzz, a part of The NPD Group, maintains three Solar Electricity
Benchmark Price Indices:
| Solar
I |
Solar
Electricity Residential Price Index |
| Solar
II |
Solar
Electricity Commercial Price Index |
| Solar
III |
Solar
Electricity Industrial Price Index |
The calculation methodology can be found
by
clicking here.
Prices on this page are illustrative only, indicative of global,
rather than specific country, grid connect markets. Prices for individual
projects often vary widely according to the location and type of
system required.
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| Solar
I: Residential
Index |
This Price Index is based upon a standard 2 kilowatt peak
system, roof retrofit mounted. It is connected to the electricity
grid and has battery back up to allow it to operate during
times of electricity downtime. It is therefore also suitable
as an Index for off grid Residential uses. The Price Index
includes full system integration and installation costs.
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Solar
I
Installed Home System |
| On
Grid or Off Grid (2 kilowatts) |
change
from prior month
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Customer
Price
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$16,535
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Down
$39
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Sunny
climate
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34.56
cents kWh
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Down
0.08 cents kWh
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Cloudy
climate
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76.04
cents kWh
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Down
0.18 cents kWh
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| Solar
II: Commercial Index |
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This is a 50 kilowatt ground mounted Solar System, which is
connected to the electricity grid. It provides distributed
energy and excludes any back up power. The
Price Index includes full system integration and installation
costs. |
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Solar
II
Installed Commercial System |
| On
Grid (50 kilowatts) |
change
from prior month
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Customer
Price
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$311,199
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Down
$2,926
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Sunny
climate
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24.57
cents kWh
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Down
0.08 cents kWh
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Cloudy
climate
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54.05
cents kWh
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Down
0.17 cents kWh
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| Solar
III: Industrial Index |
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This is a 500 kilowatt flat roof mounted Solar System, suitable
on large buildings. It is connected to the electricity grid
and excludes back up power. The
Price Index includes full system integration and installation
costs. |
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Solar
III
Installed
Industrial System
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| On
Grid (500 kilowatts) |
change
from prior month
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Customer
Price
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$2,235,559
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Down
$6,771
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Sunny
climate
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19.14
cents kWh
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Down
0.06 cents kWh
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Cloudy
climate
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42.11
cents kWh
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Down
0.13 cents kWh
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| Key
Assumptions |
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There are many elements to
the Index calculation which can be found by clicking
here.
The most important elements of the calculation are the assumptions:
Over the
short term:
- the cost of capital for the financing of the system.
"Free money" rather than the 5% interest assumption used,
could bring the price of a Solar System which calculates
at 24 cents per kilowatt hour down to 15 cents per kilowatt
hour
- the sunlight conditions - the energy output of
a Solar System can be double in the sunbelt of United States,
Australia, Africa or in the Mediterranean countries ("sunny
climate" above), when compared against northern Germany
or northern Japan ("cloudy climate" above). Even
then, Germany and Japan have some of the largest solar installation
programs of any countries worldwide
- the index is founded upon Retail prices for the
Residential Index. Industry price discounts increase with
system size and these factors are included in the Commercial
and Industrial sized systems. However, although the Index
is representative of actual discounts, these can vary according
to each individual sales arrangement
- Personal and Corporate taxation can affect the
"after tax" cents per kilowatt hour. Tax regimes that provide
attractive allowances for capital equipment against high
marginal tax rates can significantly enhance the economics
of solar relative to Utility tariffs. This effect is dependent
upon individual circumstances and therefore has been excluded
from the Solarbuzz Index
Over the
long term:
- Price of the Solar Electric Systems - A typical
solar Electric system today costs a little less than $10
per Watt Peak. Prices have been historically been declining
at around 4% per annum and this decline is expected to continue
over the medium term.
Other factors:
- All Solarbuzz Price Indices exclude the impact of rebate
programs that are available today in some European Countries,
Japan, some States of the USA and through bi-lateral aid
programs. It is possible to find your local government or
utility offering rebates of anything from $3 - $5 Watt peak.
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| Survey
Details |
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Once a month, Solarbuzz surveys
the solar products market on the Internet.
The
product price information can be found by clicking
here and encompasses Solar Modules, Batteries, Inverters
and Regulators (Charge Controllers). Together, these components
account for around 80% of an installed Solar System. The
final significant expense element is installation costs.
The appropriate basket of products is used to make the
System Price calculation in the Solarbuzz Benchmark Price
Indices above, which over the past five years have been
based upon a database of 800,000+ price points (or around
5000 prices per month).
There are thousands of companies around the world that
market solar electricity equipment systems and components.
Of these, over 80 companies that display Retail prices
on the internet, have been included in this survey.
Around
80% of these companies are based in the USA (but most
market globally). The second largest region is Europe,
where companies from United Kingdom, Germany and Switzerland
are represented.
The remaining Companies in the survey are located in France,
South Africa, Korea, Brazil, Canada and Australia.
Most of those companies that display prices are known
as "solar dealers" or "integrators" (within
the solar energy industry).
A
small number of wholesalers also display prices. For the
most part, however, these wholesalers are focused on supplying
their respective dealer networks.
Prices
available to larger commercial customers (i.e. green energy
companies, utilities, large OEMs) will be much lower than
displayed in the Products price survey.
The
typical discounts are accounted for in the Benchmark Price
Indices, but not in the product prices data.
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