What is the proportion of "soft cost" in the total cost of photovoltaic power stations in the United

First of all, we should explain what is the "soft cost" of photovoltaic system. This concept can be explained by the following formula:

Soft cost = total cost - hardware (module, inverter, structural and electrical BOS) cost

PV system software cost=total cost - hardware cost (module, inverter, bracket, electrical)

Specifically, soft costs include land, labor, tax, administration, profit and other costs. It can be seen from the figure below that the hardware cost of photovoltaic systems in the United States has decreased significantly in the past seven years, and the proportion of "soft cost" has gradually increased accordingly.

Taking public utility (large ground) photovoltaic as an example, the soft cost only accounted for 32% of the total cost in 2010, while the soft cost accounted for 41% of the total cost in 2017. In 2017, the soft cost of PV systems for commercial facilities accounted for 59%, while the soft cost of PV systems for household use accounted for 68%.