The cost of solar installations in all sectors has decreased by a significant amount in the past two years. According to a recent Motley Fool article, the cost of residential installations such as rooftop solar have gone down by 15.6 percent since the first quarter of 2010. The cost reductions are even higher for non-residential solar, which saw a 27.2 percent decrease, and utility-scale solar saw the greatest decrease at 54.8 percent.
"Despite the performance of solar stocks over the past two years, the fundamental cost of installing solar power continues to fall rapidly," the article states. "Long term, this is great for the industry and should drive sales and eventually (surviving) solar stocks higher in the future."
The article highlighted the United States Department of Energy's SunShot program, which is an initiative designed to make solar installation less expensive by funding permit-streamlining and other efforts. For example, the program recently awarded funding to Tigo Energy to develop photovoltaic cell optimizing software.
"Module-level data is essential to truly understanding and utilizing the full potential of solar," said Sam Arditi, CEO, Tigo Energy. "Software is a critical component in optimizing solar arrays and bringing down ownership costs. This DOE award allows us to develop the most efficient system based on our extensive data with the lowest associated costs."
The $500,000 award will be used to develop analytics tools to measure and manage PV systems. According to Tigo, the software will be able to identify faults in solar systems and the benefits of repairing those systems by comparing service costs to the value of the energy that would be lost if the faults were not repaired. This is the second SunShot award the company has won, the first being $3 million for a new, low-cost DC arc-fault detector.
Tigo and several other companies plan to showcase solar technology at Intersolar North America 2012, held July 9 through 12. The event will feature exhibits such as PV Energy World, which is partially supported by the California Energy Storage Alliance. PV Energy World is designed to share information and display technology in the area of energy storage. According to CESA, energy storage plays a crucial role in accelerating renewable energy adoption.
"Energy storage offers the solar industry the opportunity to bring several goals to fruition, including faster grid interconnection, more precise timing of output, fewer curtailment and imbalance penalties, and the potential to secure valuable new revenue from wholesale ancillary services and capacity markets," said Janice Lin, executive director of CESA. Lin indicated advancements in energy storage would provide huge benefits to the California solar installation industry.
"Despite the performance of solar stocks over the past two years, the fundamental cost of installing solar power continues to fall rapidly," the article states. "Long term, this is great for the industry and should drive sales and eventually (surviving) solar stocks higher in the future."
The article highlighted the United States Department of Energy's SunShot program, which is an initiative designed to make solar installation less expensive by funding permit-streamlining and other efforts. For example, the program recently awarded funding to Tigo Energy to develop photovoltaic cell optimizing software.
"Module-level data is essential to truly understanding and utilizing the full potential of solar," said Sam Arditi, CEO, Tigo Energy. "Software is a critical component in optimizing solar arrays and bringing down ownership costs. This DOE award allows us to develop the most efficient system based on our extensive data with the lowest associated costs."
The $500,000 award will be used to develop analytics tools to measure and manage PV systems. According to Tigo, the software will be able to identify faults in solar systems and the benefits of repairing those systems by comparing service costs to the value of the energy that would be lost if the faults were not repaired. This is the second SunShot award the company has won, the first being $3 million for a new, low-cost DC arc-fault detector.
Tigo and several other companies plan to showcase solar technology at Intersolar North America 2012, held July 9 through 12. The event will feature exhibits such as PV Energy World, which is partially supported by the California Energy Storage Alliance. PV Energy World is designed to share information and display technology in the area of energy storage. According to CESA, energy storage plays a crucial role in accelerating renewable energy adoption.
"Energy storage offers the solar industry the opportunity to bring several goals to fruition, including faster grid interconnection, more precise timing of output, fewer curtailment and imbalance penalties, and the potential to secure valuable new revenue from wholesale ancillary services and capacity markets," said Janice Lin, executive director of CESA. Lin indicated advancements in energy storage would provide huge benefits to the California solar installation industry.
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