Cost Trend Of Solar Panels

Over a decade ago in 2009 the cost of a solar panel installation was 8 50 per watt.

Cost trend of solar panels.

The cost has generally been following swanson s law which states that the price of solar drops by 20 for every doubling of shipped product. A standard 6 kw residential solar system has dropped from 44 000 down to 15 200 over the past decade not including the federal solar tax credit. The cost of solar panels has fallen just 2 3 in 2019 and forbes foresees panel prices as bottoming out soon as the chinese market stabilizes. In addition to solar panel efficiency increasing dramatically solar panel producers have significantly improved their manufacturing processes.

The easiest way to calculate the average cost of solar panels is to look at its price in dollars per watt w which is relatively consistent across the united states. Welcome to our comprehensive solar panel cost guide updated for 2020. Solar panel prices change on a regular basis. Today it s around 0 13 per watt or about 600 times less.

The most recent official data from the doe funded lawrence berkeley labs published in september 2019 found that the median cost of residential solar panels is 3 70 watt. In pennsylvania the average solar payback period is 10 66 years. A solar payback period is the amount of time it takes for property owners who install solar panels to recover their initial investment through electricity savings. However solarreviews handles more than 1 000 quote requests per day and the current average price we see on our marketplace is 2 60 per watt.

Labor costs to install solar panels. Decline in price of residential solar since 2000. This means that the incentive will be greater in 2020 than in subsequent years. Currently the credit is set at 30 percent but starting in 2020 the solar itc will be worth 26 percent of the total solar system cost including installation.

Check our solar panels page for current pricing. This article was updated on 1 7 2020. Regardless of the exact cost of installation there are many affordable financing options for solar panel systems. Key takeaways about solar panel cost the cost of solar in 2020 is about 12 920 after tax credits 2 91 watt the cost of solar has fallen over 20 over the past 5 years.

Solar industry analysis firm gtm also predicts residential solar installation costs to bottom out around 2 50 per watt a number that tesla has already attained and other installers are likely trying to figure out as well. Back in 1977 the price of solar photovoltaic cells was 77 for just one watt of power. In 2020 a 10 000 solar system will qualify for a 2 600 tax credit.