United States module deliveries surged in quantity, dove in price amidst pandemic

• Manufacturers delivered regarding 2.05 GW of PV modules in March, prior to plunging to 1.24 GW in April. But while shipments slowed down, the expense per watt top reached a record low.

The current version of the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Monthly Solar Photovoltaic Module Shipments Report shows that, after a slow-moving begin to 2020, a record amount of modules were delivered in March. In the middle of Covid-19, nonetheless, April shipments left substantially.

Makers delivered around 2.05 GW of modules in March, breaking the previous monthly record of 1.96 GW, embeded in December 2019. The success was short-lived and all but certainly virally cut off, as in April, that shipment figure dropped almost 50% to 1.24 GW-- the most affordable mark given that November 2019. Also in a downturn, March and also April proceeded the touch of greater than 1 GW delivered, which has occurred every month considering that May 2019.

Year of fluctuation

This consistent uptick in shipment coincides with both the ITC step-down that began in 2020. In terms of the ITC, tasks had the ability to top quality for the complete 30% ITC if they began physical work by the end of 2019, while developers were able to lock in the 30% ITC via a safe harbor provision, by paying for 5% or more of the cost of a job. Taking into consideration that modules stand for greater than 5% of overall project costs, protecting modules was a secure way to make certain the full ITC.

In March, California led the way with 693 MW of modules delivered, followed by Tennessee, which shipped 144 MW. Rounding out the top 5 for March comes Massachusetts with 128 MW, Texas with 108 MW, as well as New Jersey with 99 MW.

In April, the leaders were California with 418 MW, Massachusetts with 102 MW, Tennessee with 74 MW, Florida with 48 MW, and also Idaho with 40 MW. It needs to be noted that the April shipment data for Texas has actually been kept so far.

Cost per watt

March and also April also featured the most affordable price per watt in the history of the report. Both months included a typical expense per optimal watt of $0.37, slipping by the previous document of $.038, embeded in June 2019. The mark is additionally down substantially from February's ordinary rate of $0.46 expense per watt, which was likely due to worries of pandemic-related supply chain disturbances.

The $0.09 drop in average price from February to March is the biggest one-month margin of reduction since March-April of 2017, when the ordinary price dropped from $0.66 to $0.42 per watt