The impact of city-level permitting processes on residential photovoltaic installation prices and development times: An empirical analysis of solar systems in California cities

Energy Policy

Volumn 63, Issue , 2013, Pages 531-542

  Dong, Changgui ^a,b   Wiser, Ryan ^a  

^a LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

Author keywords

Installed prices; Permitting; Photovoltaic

Indexed keywords

EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS; INSTALLED PRICES; PERMITTING; PERMITTING PRACTICES; PHOTOVOLTAIC; RESIDENTIAL PHOTOVOLTAIC; RESIDENTIAL PV SYSTEMS; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY;

HOUSING; PHOTOVOLTAIC EFFECTS; REGRESSION ANALYSIS;

COSTS;

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY; ECONOMETRICS; EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS; ENERGY MARKET; PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM; PRICE DETERMINATION; PRICE DYNAMICS; REGRESSION ANALYSIS; RENEWABLE RESOURCE; SOLAR POWER; URBAN AREA;

CALIFORNIA; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84887145088     PISSN: 03014215     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.08.054     Document Type: Article

References (38)

1. Ardani K., Barbose G., Margolis R., Wiser R., Feldman D., Ong S. Benchmarking Non-Hardware Balance of System (Soft) Costs for U.S. Photovoltaic Systems Using a Data-Driven Analysis from PV Installer Survey Results 2012, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Golden, CO, Berkeley, CA.
2. Barbose G., Darghouth N., Wiser R. Tracking the Sun V: The Installed Price of Photovoltaics in the United States from 1998-2011. 2012, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA.
3. Bazilian M., Onyeji I., Liebreich M., MacGill I., Chase J., Shah J., Gielen D., Arent D., Landfear D., Zhengrong S. Re-considering the economics of photovoltaic power. Renewable Energy 2013, 53(0):329-338.
4. Branker K., Pathak M.J.M., Pearce J.M. A review of solar photovoltaic levelized cost of electricity. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2011, 15(9):4470-4482.
5. Brooks, B., 2012. Expedited Permit Process for PV Systems: A Standardized Process for the Review of Small-Scale PV Systems. Solar America Board for Codes and Standards.
6. Darling S.B., You F., Veselka T., Velosa A. Assumptions and the levelized cost of energy for photovoltaics. Energy and Environmental Science 2011, 4:3133-3139.
7. Goodrich A., James T., Woodhouse M. Residential, Commercial, and Utility-Scale Photovoltaic System Prices in the United States: Current Drivers and Cost Reduction Opportunities 2012, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO.
8. Green M. Learning experience for thin-film solar modules: First solar, Inc. case study. Progress in Photovoltaics 2011, 19(4):498-500.
9. Hernández-Moro J., Martínez-Duart J.M. Analytical model for solar PV and CSP electricity costs: present LCOE values and their future evolution. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2013, 20(0):119-132.
10. Hoff, T.; Pasquier, B.; Peterson, J., 2010. Market Transformation Benefits of a PV Incentive Program. In: Proceedings of the Solar 2010 Conference. Phoenix, Arizona.
11. Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), 2010. Field Inspection Guidelines for PV Systems. Prepared by Brooks Engineering.
12. 2010, Technological Learning In The Energy Sector, Edward Elgar, Northampton, MA. M. Junginger, W.V. Sark, A. Faaij (Eds.).
13. Kahouli-Brahmi S. Testing for the presence of some features of increasing returns to adoption factors in energy system dynamics: an analysis via the learning curve approach. Ecological Economics 2009, 68(4):1195-1212.
14. Langen C. Complexity cost and economies of scale: Why residential customers in Germany pay 25% less for a PV system than U.S. Customers. Proceedings of Solar Power International, Washington, DC 2010.
15. Martinsen T. Technology learning in a small open economy-the systems, modeling and exploiting the learning effect. Energy Policy 2011, 39:2361-2372.
16. Mills C., Newick K., Stewart J., Compeán T.W. Solar Electric Permit Fees in Southern California: A Comparative Report 2009, Sierra Club, San Francisco, CA.
17. Mills C., Newick K. Solar Electric Permit Fees in Northern California: A Comparative Study 2011, Sierra Club, San Francisco, CA.
18. Mukora A., Winskel M., Jeffrey H.F., Mueller M. Learning Curves for Emerging Energy Technologies. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Energy 2009, 162(4):51-60.
19. Neij L. Cost development of future technologies for power generation-a study based on experience curves and complementary bottom-up assessments. Energy Policy 2008, 36:2200-2211.
20. Nemet G.F. Beyond the learning curve: factors influencing cost reductions in photovoltaics. Energy Policy 2006, 34(17):3218-3232.
21. Nemet G.F. Interim cost dynamics for publicly supported energy technologies. Energy Policy 2009, 37:825-835.
22. Office of Planning and Research (OPR) California Solar Permitting Guidebook 2012, Governor's Office of Planning and Research., Sacramento, CA.
23. Peters M., Schmidt T., Wiederkehr D., Schneider M. Shedding light on solar technologies-A techno-economics assessment and its policy implications. Energy Policy 2011, 39:6422-6439.
24. Reichelstein, S.; Yorston, M., 2013. The prospects for cost competitive solar PV power. Energy Policy 55, 117-127.
25. Rosenblum, L. 1978. Cost of Photovoltaic Energy Systems as Determined by Balance-of-System Costs. NASA Technical Memorandum 78957.
26. Schaeffer, G. et al., 2004. Learning from the Sun. Final Report of the Photex Project. ECN-C-04-035.
27. Seel J., Barbose G., Wiser R. Why Are Residential PV Prices in Germany So Much Lower Than in the United States? A Scoping Analysis 2013, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA.
28. Shum K., Watanabe C. Towards a local learning (innovation) model of solar photovoltaic deployment. Energy Policy 2008, 36:508-521.
29. Stanfield, S.; Schroeder, E.; Culley, T., 2012. Sharing Success: Emerging Approaches to Efficient Rooftop Solar Permitting. Interstate Renewable Energy Council.
30. Soderholm P., Sundqvist T. Empirical challenges in the use of learning curves for assessing the economic prospects of renewable energy technologies. Renewable Energy 2007, 32:2559-2578.
31. Sunrun The Impact of Local Permitting on the Cost of Solar Power 2011, Sunrun, San Francisco, CA.
32. Tong J. Nationwide Analysis of Solar Permitting and the Implications for Soft Costs 2012, Clean Power Finance, Inc.
33. U.S. Census Bureau. 2012. The American FactFinder. Available from: (accessed 10.06.12). http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml.
34. van Benthem A., Gillingham K., Sweeney J. Learning-by-doing and the optimal solar policy in California. Energy Journal 2008, 29(3):131-151.
35. Vote Solar, 2013. Project Permit Interactive Permitting Map. Available from: (accessed 5.02.13). http://votesolar.org/solar-map.
36. Wiser R., Bolinger M., Cappers P., Margolis R. Analyzing historical cost trends in California's market for customer-sited photovoltaics. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications 2007, 15:69-85.
37. Yu C.F., van Sark W.G.J.H.M., Alsema E.A. Unraveling the photovoltaic technology learning curve by incorporation of input price changes and scale effects. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2011, 15:324-337.
38. Zweibel K. Should solar photovoltaics be deployed sooner because of long operating life at low, predictable cost?. Energy Policy 2010, 38:7519-7530.