Solar Market Research Data
The past decade has seen a massive decline in the cost of solar panel installation across the country. This price reduction has led to the massive expansion of the solar industry across every state within the country. The reduction in price up till the end of 2019 was about 70%. However, during the second quarter of 2020, there was a massive decline in solar panel system costs across the country.
For instance, an average-sized residential solar panel’s pre-incentive price has reduced by almost half of the initial price. The utility-scale prices have also experienced a marked reduction in price, ranging from $16/MWh – $35/MWh. This price is quite low when compared with the other energy sources available.
The electric capacity additions to the economy have also favored the solar industry in the past decade. In 2019, about 40% of the new electric capacity added to the grid was from solar, and this was the largest share ever experienced in the energy sector. Also, the total U.S. electrical generation’s share has gained exponential increase from 0.1% in 2010 to about 3% in 2020.
Data Across 50 countries
Although California has been the dominating state in the solar market and boasts over 30,000 MW of solar panels within it, other states are also increasing their dominance level. The other states outside of California all experienced the largest market share for a decade in 2019. Most states now boast of having over 10,000 MW of solar energy within them. Florida and Texas are the two leading states in this category. Other US states also boast over about 1,000 MW of solar energy, while only a few have 50 MW solar energy in the industry.
The Solar Industry And COVID-19 Impact
The solar industry was greatly affected by the pandemic, especially in the second quarter of 2020. This is because of the reliance of the economy’s residential and commercial segments on in-person sales strategies. This method could no longer work as most individuals now spend more time at home, and the request for solar panel installation greatly decreased. This made most solar panel companies lay off their workers. Although some companies are beginning to consider the option of remote sale techniques, the market forecast for the residential and commercial segment has reduced by 11% in a bid to keep the market running.
The main aspect affected by the pandemic in the residential and commercial segments is the soft costs. This includes the labor, interconnection or inspection, supply chain, customer acquisition, and overhead costs. During this period, the soft costs have increased due to some factors, including inconsistent building code and permitting practices. Other customer acquisition costs have also caused an increase in the soft cost across the jurisdiction. However, this is balanced by a decrease in the hardware costs of the solar industry.
Conclusion
According to the market data and the forecasts, the solar industry will bounce back once the pandemic is over and continue its boom. Hence, this is a good one for companies and solar panel shareholders.
