Solar Power Beats DOE Cost Targets Three Years Early

Utility-grade solar panels have hit 2020 cost targets three years early, the U.S. Department of Energy announced. The average price is now 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. Karen Hao explains in Quartz:

"The steady decline in the price of solar power is largely due to falling costs of photovoltaic hardware, driven by market competition, as well as improvements in efficiency, in part stimulated by DOE-funded research, according to a report released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on the same day. 'Soft' costs like labor have also fallen, but at a slower rate."

Now, the DOE is moving on to other goals, beginning with an $82 million investment from its Solar Energy Technologies Office in reliability, resilience, and storage solutions. Hao's piece includes further analysis of solar affordability trends and the DOE's new projects.