National Lab researchers release cost breakdown report for solar PV with energy storage
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) released the results of a study this week, which include component and system-level cost breakdowns for residential photovoltaic (PV) solar systems equipped with energy storage.
The report, titled “Installed Cost Benchmarks and Deployment Barriers for Residential Solar Photovoltaics with Energy Storage: Q1 2016,” was written by researchers from NREL, the Rocky Mountain Institute,
and the Energy Department. In addition to the cost breakdown, it contains an analysis of barriers to
adoption for these systems, identifies factors influencing market growth and provides information that
could help guide efforts to recognize cost reduction opportunities.
“There is rapidly growing interest in pairing distributed PV with storage, but there’s a lack of publicly available cost data and analysis,” Kristen Ardani, lead author of the report and a solar technology markets and policy analyst at NREL, said. “By expanding NREL’s well-established component- and system-level cost modeling methodology for solar PV technologies to PV-plus-storage systems, this report is the first in a series of benchmark reports that will document progress in cost reductions for the emerging PV-plus-storage market over time.”
The study examines alternating current (AC)- and direct current (DC)-coupled residential systems, retrofitting batteries to already-installed arrays and upgrading to a battery with a larger capacity to enhance reliability.
The researchers broke costs down into 13 categories that ranged from hardware costs such as PV modules and batteries to soft costs like labor for installations and permitting. The barriers to adoption identified in the report include inconsistent permitting processes, complexity in adequately valuing the benefits of energy storage and flat utility rates.
In the report, the researchers discuss possible steps for reducing costs and removing barriers, including the importance of education on storage technologies for permitting officials.
