What are solar energy cost benchmarks?

These benchmarks help measure progress toward goals for reducing solar electricity costs and guide SETO research and development programs. Read more to find out how these cost benchmarks are modeled and download the data and cost modeling program below.

What is PV system cost model (pvscm)?

The total cost over the service life of the system is amortized to give a levelized cost per year. In the PV System Cost Model (PVSCM), the owner's overnight capital expense (cash cost) for an installed PV system is divided into eight categories, which are the same for the utility-scale, commercial, and residential PV market segments:

How does Seto calculate PV system cost?

Unlike most PV cost studies that report values solely in dollars per watt, SETO's PV system cost benchmark reports values using intrinsic units for each component. For example, the cost of a mounting structure is given in dollars per square meter of modules supported by that structure.

How does pvscm calculate tariffs & subsidies?

Tariffs and subsidies are noted in the spreadsheet's comments column. PVSCM is implemented using an Excel spreadsheet. It collects the cost elements for each category, then sums the categories to obtain the system cost, for both MSP and MMP. Unit conversion multipliers are listed on a separate sheet labeled "Factors."