Changes in Solar Economics

Just over 10 years ago, the most expensive part of a solar power plant was the solar module. Through high volume manufacturing, the costs of the solar modules, the components that convert sunlight into power has dropped dramatically. Today, for a large installed system, less than 1/3 of the costs is the solar modules. This balance of system costs is now the hardest cost problem to solve.

This is a pattern emerging across renewable energy. The balance of the system costs, everything except generation, is dominating the costs of getting power to users. This balance of system include transmissions lines, storage, distribution, and management. Firm, clean renewable power is needed to bring down the balance of system costs. Gathering solar in orbit and beaming close to customers is a way to solve this.

References
- https://emp.lbl.gov/tracking-the-sun/