Trump Tariff Is Stressing The Solar Market

Based on the first half of last year, we are examining how rooftop solar systems pricing seems to be heading into a period of flattened costs in California and in San Diego, costs are following a similar path. 

“In years past, you have seen huge drops,” said Ryan Willemsen, originator and CEO of Solar to the People, a San Diego startup that drafted this report. “But now, prices are really stabilizing.”

Nationwide Solar Prices

In 1998, the nationwide typical price to install a domestic solar system appeared slightly more than $12 per watt and those amounts fell dramatically in the following years, especially in California, the nation’s champion when it comes to the number of homeowners with rooftop photo-voltaic panel systems. According to the Solar to the People report, the common cost per watt for the first six months in California is $3.09. In San Diego, the typical price within the first half of this year remained $3.02, matched to $3.09 a watt in 2016 and $3.13 in 2015. That’s a helpful discount but not sensational, correlated to earlier years, and Willemsen said it indicates how the California solar market is maturing.

“A lot of the people most apt to convert into solar consumers have already done it,” Willemsen stated. “So now you’re seeing installation companies spending more time trying to find people who want to have solar installed, educating them, doing advertising, all those things and it’s bumping up their costs.”

There are also some economic factors to consider. Most movers and shakers, customers and sellers in the solar industry expect President Donald Trump to foster import tariffs on solar panels that are assembled abroad.

Tariffs By The United States

The U.S. International Trade Commission recently transmitted a number of suggestions to Trump. While the proposed tariffs were not as high as many in the solar industry worried, they would influence large, utility-scale projects more than domestic solar.  And, commanding tariffs is putting upward tension on costs for installers.

The Investment Tax Credit provides a 30 percent reduction in the expense of installing solar. But the credit is programmed to fall to 26 percent in 2020, 22 percent in 2021 and 10 percent from 2022 and ahead.

There’s also skepticism whether “Net Metering 2.0” rules approved in January 2016 by the California Public Utilities Commission will be a net advantage or loss for rooftop solar customers in the long game.

“I have no doubt that in the long-term, (solar costs) will keep dropping but in the next couple years that could change.” Willemsen announced. “If you were considering going solar in 2000, it would have made sense to wait, the way prices were going down each year. But now that prices have leveled off and I think might bump up a little, it no longer makes so much sense to wait.”

Luckily, solar prices have held to lower prices than any time in America's history.  So, before they potentially price the wrong direction, now is a great time to get into your own solar panel system. 

Solar power is here to stay, and the sooner you explore how much you can save, the sooner you can enjoy the benefits of residential solar power. Go to HahaSmart.com and try our price checker tool. It tells you how much solar power you need, and how much you can save.

Please visit our solar blog to find out more about the benefits of going solar.