World Energy Resources | 2016

WORLD ENERGY COUNCIL | SOLAR
FIGURE 19: TRENDS IN LCOE FOR SOLAR PV IN KEY MARKETS
Source: IRENA (2015)
The average LCOE of residential PV systems without battery storage was estimated to be
US$0.38-0.67 per kWh in 2008 for the data presented in Figure 19. But this declined to
US$0.14-0.47 per kWh in 2014. LCOE of electricity for residential systems declined by
around 42% between 2008 and 2014 for small systems (0-4 kW) in California and by 44%
for the larger 4-10 kW systems; in other parts of the United States the decline was 52% and
54%, respectively, for these residential systems. The LCOE of French residential systems
is estimated to have declined by 61% between 2008 and 2014, while the LCOE of
Japanese residential systems fell by 42%. The estimated LCOE of residential systems in
Italy fell by 59% between 2008 and 2013 for systems of 1-3 kW in size, while they fell by
66% for larger systems of 3-20 kW in size, for an average decline of around 63%. Between
2010 and 2014, the average LCOE of residential systems in Australia declined by 52%. A
shorter time series is available for China, which has very competitive LCOE levels.
LCOE is well-adapted to areas where demand and sunshine are simultaneous, for instance
places with peak demand at noon due to high rate of air conditioning such as California; but
in places where peak demand is in the evening in winter, and with around 1000 hours
sunshine per year, such as Germany, electricity storage or back up by the grid is required:
cost for the customer must take into account these additional costs in order to give the right
market signal.
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