SEIA Resources
Reports
SEIA produces a variety of research and other supporting resources for the solar industry, ranging from full reports to short factsheets. Below is a list of our reports, organized by date. For a full library of research and resources, click here.
Tracking the Sun VII
Lawrence Berkley National Lab's "Tracking the Sun" is an annual report that tracks and analyzes installed prices of solar PV. The report analyzes more than 300,000 individual residential, commercial and utility scale PV systems in 33 states. Key findings include:
Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis - v.8.0
Lazard's Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis has been published since 2008. With their latest edition, Lazard shows that Wind and Solar PV continue to become cost-competitive.
Brighter Future: A Study on Solar in U.S. Schools Report
SEIA and its research partner, the Solar Foundation, have built the most comprehensive database known of K-12 schools with solar installations. With data on thousands of schools, the research team has used this database to learn about the characteristics of these systems and trends in this market segment over time.
Green Multifamily and Single Family Homes: Growth in a Recovering Market
Smart Market Report - Green Multifamily and Single Family Homes.pdfMcGraw Hill Construction builds on their previous study with this new report which finds that green building is taking an ever increasing share of construction within the new construction of single and multi-family homes as well as remodeling projects. Here are some key takeaways:
Solar Market Insight Report 2014 Q2
U.S. Solar Market Insight™ is a collaboration between the Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA®) and GTM Research that brings high-quality, solar-specific analysis and forecasts to industry professionals in the form of quarterly and annual reports. Released September 4, 2014.
Strategies for Mitigating the Reduction in Economic Value of Variable Generation with Increasing Penetration Levels
Looking at 4 variable generation technologies (wind, single-axis tracking PV, CSP with no storage, & CSP with thermal energy storage), the authors look at the benefits of mitigation measures. In particular, the authors are looking at specific mitigation measures to first find those measures that provide an increase to the value of variable generation technologies and then seeks to determine whether such mitigation measures are themselves economically attractive. Some of the conclusions the authors come to:
Comparing Photovoltaic (PV) Costs and Deployment Drivers in the Japanese and U.S. Residential and Commercial Markets
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory releases their new report "Comparing Photovoltaic (PV) Costs and Deployment Drivers in the Japanese and U.S. Residential and Commercial Markets". Key findings from the report found that system prices as well as soft costs were cheaper in Japan. In particular, customer acquisition and system design were both found to be significantly lower in Japan than the US.
Lighting the Way: The Top Ten States that Helped Drive America's Solar Energy Boom in 2013
This 51-page report from Environment Illinois and the Frontier Group examines solar deployment at the state level and finds that strong solar policies have driven deployment growth in the top solar states. The report highlights the ability of other states to follow these successes by implementing similar policies.
IREC's US Solar Market Trends Report 2014
IREC's annual US Solar Market Trends Report 2014 gathers and analyzes publicly available data for US solar installations by technology, state and market sector.