What is the 2025 Solar Builder energy storage system Buyer's Guide?

The 2025 Solar Builder Energy Storage System Buyer’s Guide is here to cut through the noise. This ESS Buyer’s Guide is a comprehensive list of what each brand is offering in the residential and C&I space heading into 2025. We sent a questionnaire to every manufacturer to ascertain their top product and what components are included.

How much does a PV system cost?

Our operations and maintenance (O&M) analysis breaks costs into various categories and provides total annualized O&M costs. The MSP results for PV systems (in units of 2022 real USD/kWdc/yr) are $28.78 (residential), $39.83 (community solar), and $16.12 (utility-scale).

How efficient is a residential PV system in 2024?

The representative residential PV system (RPV) for 2024 has a rating of 8 kW dc (the sum of the system’s module ratings). Each module has an area (with frame) of 1.9 m 2 and a rated power of 400 watts, corresponding to an efficiency of 21.1%.

How much does a PV system cost in 2022?

The current MSP benchmarks for PV systems in 2022 real USD are $28.78/kWdc/yr (residential), $39.83/kWdc/yr (community solar), and $16.12/kWdc/yr (utility-scale, single-axis tracking). For MMP, the current benchmarks are $30.36/kWdc/yr (residential), $40.51/kWdc/yr (community solar), and $16.58/kWdc/yr (utility-scale, single-axis tracking).

How much would a PV system cost without a 45x credit?

Without the 45X credit eligible for domestically assembled modules, inverters, and battery packs the MMP of the residential PV and PV-plus-storage system would have been $2.90/Wdc and $4.93/Wdc, respectively.

How are benchmark PV operations & maintenance costs estimated?

Benchmark PV operations and maintenance (O&M) costs are estimated using a model (Walker et al. 2020) that provides a line-item cost estimate of measures that correspond to the PV O&M services described in Best Practices for Operation and Maintenance of Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Systems, 3rd Edition (NREL et al. 2018).