Solar PV shipments were up 33% in 2020 as demand rose and costs fell

The Energy Information Administration reported that solar PV module shipments in 2020 totaled nearly 21.8 million peak kilowatts and had a total value of more than $8.2 billion.

July 30, 2021 David Wagman

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Solar photovoltaic module shipments in 2020 totaled nearly 21.8 million peak kilowatts and had a total value of more than $8.2 billion, according to the Energy Information Administration’s 2020 Annual Solar Photovoltaic Module Shipments Report, released on July 30.

Shipments during the year rose from the nearly 16.4 million peak kilowatts recorded in 2019. A decade earlier, shipments totaled 2.64 million.

EIA said that the value of PV modules in terms of dollars per peak Watt averaged $0.38 in 2020. That was down from $0.41 recorded in 2019, and below the $1.96 recorded in 2010.

Solar PV imports in 2020 totaled just under 19.3 million peak kilowatts, and exports totaled 376,483 peak kilowatts.

The EIA report listed Vietnam as the top source of PV imports to the U.S. at 8.1 million peak kilowatts. South Korea and Thailand combined were second at 4.4 million peak kilowatts, and Malaysia was third at 3.2 million peak kilowatts. The report lumped together imports from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, which totaled less than 950,000 peak kilowatts.

Among U.S. states, the EIA report said that California shipments totaled just under 2.7 million peak kilowatts. It was followed by Texas at nearly 1.6 million, and Florida at just over 1.5 million.

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