Since the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) launched the SunShot Initiative in 2011, solar has made great strides in the United States. In early 2011, solar power comprised less than 0.1% of the U.S. electricity supply with an installed capacity of just 3 gigawatts. As of 2017, solar now supplies more than 1% of U.S. electricity demand with an installed capacity of more than 47 gigawatts.

The solar office has continuously worked toward its goal of enabling solar electricity costs to be competitive with conventionally generated electricity by 2020, without subsidies. During this time, the solar industry has seen tremendous progress in cost reduction. In 2017, the solar industry achieved SunShot’s original 2020 cost target of $0.06 per kilowatt-hour for utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power three years ahead of schedule, dropping from about $0.28 to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Cost targets for residential- and commercial-scale solar have dropped from $0.52 to $0.16 and from $0.40 to $0.11 per kWh respectively.

Building off of and updating the original SunShot vision, the Solar Energy Technologies Office set goals for 2030. The goals cut the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of photovoltaic solar by an additional 50% to $0.03 per kWh for utility-scale and cut the LCOE of concentrating solar power to $0.05 per kWh for baseload power plants, while also addressing grid integration challenges and addressing key market barriers in order to enable greater solar adoption. Achieving these goals would make solar one of the least expensive sources of new electricity generation and spur growth across the country.

The 2030 goals were announced on November 14, 2016. Read the press release and download the report that highlights the 2030 goals. You can also listen to a webinar that discusses the 2030 goals, which took place on December 6, 2016.