Up to Half of Solar Costs are Administrative, DOE Says

Between 40 and 50 percent of the cost of ownership and operation for a rooftop solar system is contributed by administrative costs such as permitting, financing and connecting to the grid, according to the Department of Energy (via the New York Times).

Ramamoorthy Ramesh, the manager of the DOE’s SunShot program and a materials scientist from the University of California at Berkeley, said these “soft costs” are often overlooked. But reducing these costs will increase installations, bringing about innovation and cuts to hardware costs, he said.  ….