Law of Demand: Prices go down, quantity consumed goes up (and vice-versa) if nothing else changes.
Caveat: In the real world, everything changes. So we either need statistical methods to isolate the price effect, or we need to rely on the preponderance of evidence to anecdotally verify the law of demand...like this:
The cost to install solar has dropped by more than 60% over the last 10 years, leading the industry to expand into new markets and deploy thousands of systems nationwide.
U.S. Solar Market Through 2016: Key Takeaways
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14.8 GW installed in 2016
- 97% growth in Photovoltaic (PV) market over 2015
- Largest year on record, surpassing 2015; Q4 2016 largest quarter on record
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Over 42 GW of total solar capacity now installed
- CAGR of 59% since 2010
- Generates enough electricity to power 8.3 million homes
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Solar top source of new electric generating capacity installed in 2016
- Represented 39% of all new electric capacity added to U.S. grid
- First time solar ranks first; Natural Gas represented 29% and Wind 26%
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Solar prices dropped 29% from Q4 2015 to Q4 2016
- Price drop is seen across all market segments, led by reduced hardware costs
- Prices have dropped 67% since 2011
- Utility-scale PPAs now signed for $0.03 - $0.05/kWh
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In 2016, a new solar installation was completed every 84 seconds
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Now 1.3 million installations in the U.S.
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