Reducing Solar PV Soft Cost: Focus on Installation Labor

This paper focuses on lowering the solar soft costs of installation labor to reach the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Goal for installing residential rooftop solar systems. According to the authors, the major opportunities to reduce installation labor costs in the United States include adopting technologies and processes that enable one-day installations; overhauling the racking base installation process; using standardized systems that reduce the need for one-off engineering and design work; innovating on all AC-related electrical activities; and eliminating several non-value-add activities typical to the U.S. installation process.