Featured in The fires feeding mono's rise – 11-2018

Solar components balancing act

Solar balance of system (BOS) components cost reductions have been in the crosshairs of the industry since consistently falling module prices raised BOS costs to more than 50% of an overall system. pv magazine investigates the latest efforts from manufacturers to bring these costs down, many of which were on display at California’s Solar Power International show in September.

By

Charles W. Thurston

02 Nov 2018

GreenLink’s Knucklehead roof mounts also speed up the installation process by using magnets instead of bolts. | Images: pv magazine/ Charles W. Thurston

This year, BOS costs will continue to account for the largest share of utility-scale PV project costs, confirms GTM Research Solar Analyst Rishab Shrestha. Since metal prices are determined by the flux of global commodities overall, better design, engineering, and technology advances have presented the best bets at cutting BOS, be it a capex or …

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