Installation record! 90% of over 12GW power plants use single-axis tracking systems

Installation record! 90% of over 12GW power plants use single-axis tracking systems

Source: PV-Tech

In 2021, nearly 12.5GW of new large-scale ground-mounted PV capacity will be connected to the grid in the United States, bringing the cumulative capacity of 1,131 projects to 51.34GW.

Downward cost driving strong installation trends. The median installed cost of stand-alone large-scale ground-mounted PV projects has fallen steadily by more than 75% since 2010, falling to $1.35/W for the 62 projects installed in 2021.

According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report, the median cost of a solar project with battery storage is $3.46/W.

In 2021, 90% of all new large-scale ground-mounted PV projects will use single-axis tracking systems.

The levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of large-scale ground-mounted PV projects has fallen by around 85% since 2010 to $33/MWh in 2021, the report said. This figure drops to $27/MWh when the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is taken into account. The decline in LCOE was driven by lower project costs, improved capacity factors, lower operating expenses and longer design lives.

With the help of the ITC, PPA prices for projects located in the West have mostly reached about $20/MWh, and projects in other parts of the continental US have been priced at about $30-40/MWh.

Across all seven independent system operators (ISOs) and another 35 utilities, 674GW of solar is queued to be connected by the end of 2021. Of this proposed solar capacity, more than 40% is paired with battery storage. The regions with the greatest concentration of these solar-battery projects are the ISO and non-ISO western regions of California.

Currently, more than 930GW of zero-carbon power capacity is being committed to grid-connected transmission. Solar power generation exceeds 676GW, accounting for the highest proportion in the queue. 247GW of wind capacity is also committed to grid connection. Offshore projects accounted for 31%, or 77GW.

Solar energy could account for 40% of U.S. electricity supply in 2035 and 45% by 2050, an industry that employs aggressive cost-cutting measures, supportive policies, and large-scale electrification.

By 2026, the U.S. will add an average of more than 29GW of solar capacity per year. However, this pace of development has not yet met President Biden's 2035 clean energy goals. To meet these goals, the industry will need to install more than 80GW of solar annually between 2022 and 2035.