US utility and commercial solar prices rose in Q2, residential fell
Victoria Shinder1 min readUS solar system prices rose across the utility-scale and commercial and industrial segments in the second quarter of 2026, according to pricing analysis from Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association reported by pv magazine on 24 September 2026. Residential was the only segment where prices fell.
The analysis attributes the increase to persistent tariffs on structural materials and rising domestic transportation costs, which more than offset continued declines in module prices.
What it means
The module has stopped being the thing that sets the price of a solar project. Steel, aluminium and trucking now move the number more than the cells do, and those inputs respond to trade policy and diesel rather than to manufacturing scale.
That is why the residential segment can diverge. A rooftop installation carries less structural steel per watt and a far shorter haul, so it keeps the benefit of cheaper modules while utility-scale gives it back at the racking and the freight bill. For anyone forecasting project costs, the module price curve has become the least useful input on the page.