Tracking the Sun: The Installed Cost of Photovoltaics in the U.S. from 1998-2007

A more recent version of this report is now available here: https://emp.lbl.gov/tracking-the-sun. 

As installations of grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have grown, so too has the desire to track the installed cost of these systems over time, by system characteristics, by system location, and by component. This report helps to fill this need by summarizing trends in the installed cost of grid-connected PV systems in the United States from 1998 through 2007. The report is based on an analysis of installed cost data from nearly 37,000 residential and non-residential PV systems, totaling 363 MW of capacity, and representing 76% of all grid-connected PV capacity installed in the U.S. through 2007.