Utility-Scale Solar, 2021 Edition: Analysis of Empirical Plant-level Data from U.S. Ground-mounted PV, PV+battery, and CSP Plants (exceeding 5 MWAC)
DOI
10.25984/1838612
Publicly accessible
License
Berkeley Labs "Utility-Scale Solar", 2021 Edition presents analysis of empirical plant-level data from the U.S. fleet of ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV), PV+battery, and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants with capacities exceeding 5 MWAC. While focused on key developments in 2020, this report explores trends in deployment, technology, capital and operating costs, capacity factors, the levelized cost of solar energy (LCOE), power purchase agreement (PPA) prices, wholesale market value, and interconnection queue data.
2021 Utility-Scale Solar Data Update.xlsm
Workbook summarizing all data used in the briefing and its graphs, as well as additional data assets (e.g. solar project costs by state, cost statistics in $/W-DC, etc.)
535
Project Page with More Information
The project page includes a technical brief, a power point presentation, webinar recordings and interactive data visualizations.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - Berkeley Labs "Utility-Scale Solar", 2021 Edition presents analysis of empirical plant-level data from the U.S. fleet of ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV), PV+battery, and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants with capacities exceeding 5 MWAC. While focused on key developments in 2020, this report explores trends in deployment, technology, capital and operating costs, capacity factors, the levelized cost of solar energy (LCOE), power purchase agreement (PPA) prices, wholesale market value, and interconnection queue data.
AU - Bolinger, Mark
A2 - Seel, Joachim
A3 - Warner, Cody
A4 - Robson, Dana
DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI)
DP - Open EI | National Renewable Energy Laboratory
DO - 10.25984/1838612
KW - energy
KW - power
KW - solar
KW - utility-scale solar
KW - Berkeley Lab
KW - capital costs
KW - capacity factors
KW - LCOE
KW - power purchase agreements
KW - wholesale market value
KW - utility scale
KW - PV
KW - concentrating solar-thermal power
KW - CSP
KW - Battery
KW - PV battery
KW - operating costs
KW - costs
KW - interconnection
KW - interconnection queue
KW - 2021
KW - market analysis
KW - hourly generation
KW - solar power
KW - plant-level
KW - data
KW - ground-mounted
KW - photovoltaic
KW - market
KW - analysis
KW - hourly
KW - generation
KW - market value
KW - capacity
KW - power purchase agreement
KW - PPA
KW - operating cost
KW - capacity factor
LA - English
DA - 2021/09/30
PY - 2021
PB - Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
T1 - Utility-Scale Solar, 2021 Edition: Analysis of Empirical Plant-level Data from U.S. Ground-mounted PV, PV+battery, and CSP Plants (exceeding 5 MWAC)
UR - https://doi.org/10.25984/1838612
ER -
Bolinger, Mark, et al. Utility-Scale Solar, 2021 Edition: Analysis of Empirical Plant-level Data from U.S. Ground-mounted PV, PV+battery, and CSP Plants (exceeding 5 MWAC). Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 30 September, 2021, Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://doi.org/10.25984/1838612.
Bolinger, M., Seel, J., Warner, C., & Robson, D. (2021). Utility-Scale Solar, 2021 Edition: Analysis of Empirical Plant-level Data from U.S. Ground-mounted PV, PV+battery, and CSP Plants (exceeding 5 MWAC). [Data set]. Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. https://doi.org/10.25984/1838612
Bolinger, Mark, Joachim Seel, Cody Warner, and Dana Robson. Utility-Scale Solar, 2021 Edition: Analysis of Empirical Plant-level Data from U.S. Ground-mounted PV, PV+battery, and CSP Plants (exceeding 5 MWAC). Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, September, 30, 2021. Distributed by Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://doi.org/10.25984/1838612
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_4526,
title = {Utility-Scale Solar, 2021 Edition: Analysis of Empirical Plant-level Data from U.S. Ground-mounted PV, PV+battery, and CSP Plants (exceeding 5 MWAC)},
author = {Bolinger, Mark and Seel, Joachim and Warner, Cody and Robson, Dana},
abstractNote = {Berkeley Labs "Utility-Scale Solar", 2021 Edition presents analysis of empirical plant-level data from the U.S. fleet of ground-mounted photovoltaic (PV), PV+battery, and concentrating solar-thermal power (CSP) plants with capacities exceeding 5 MWAC. While focused on key developments in 2020, this report explores trends in deployment, technology, capital and operating costs, capacity factors, the levelized cost of solar energy (LCOE), power purchase agreement (PPA) prices, wholesale market value, and interconnection queue data.},
url = {https://data.openei.org/submissions/4526},
year = {2021},
howpublished = {Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI), Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, https://doi.org/10.25984/1838612},
note = {Accessed: 2025-07-22},
doi = {10.25984/1838612}
}
https://dx.doi.org/10.25984/1838612
Details
Data from Sep 30, 2021
Last updated Jun 18, 2024
Submitted Oct 21, 2021
Organization
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Contact
Authors
Research Areas
Keywords
energy, power, solar, utility-scale solar, Berkeley Lab, capital costs, capacity factors, LCOE, power purchase agreements, wholesale market value, utility scale, PV, concentrating solar-thermal power, CSP, Battery, PV battery, operating costs, costs, interconnection, interconnection queue, 2021, market analysis, hourly generation, solar power, plant-level, data, ground-mounted, photovoltaic, market, analysis, hourly, generation, market value, capacity, power purchase agreement, PPA, operating cost, capacity factorDOE Project Details
Project Name Utility-Scale Solar
Project Number 34158
