Economics and levelised cost (LCOE)
Cost estimates and the levelised cost of electricity: the base year and currency of each figure, the capacity factor assumed, and what drives the spread between estimates.
This area is studied in more depth than the rest of the value chain. It spans one layer, with 249 published records between them.
Where each layer stands
What it would cost
Published estimates of what space solar electricity would cost run from a few pence to more than a dollar per kilowatt-hour. No full-scale space solar power station has been built or tested, so no cost estimate has been checked against a real one (CLM-1444). NASA's 2024 study puts its two designs at 0.61 and 1.59 USD/kWh in its baseline case (CLM-0123). Its own sensitivity runs reach 0.03 and 0.08 USD/kWh if several assumptions improve together (CLM-0124). A 2021 UK study puts the fifth unit built at about 5 pence per kWh in its central case, in 2018 prices at a 20 per cent required return (CLM-0170). Restated to 2024 pounds, a 20-year life and a common discount rate, the yearly rate used to reduce future costs to today's value, the UK first-unit estimate and this site's own calculation of NASA's estimate still differ by 19 to 37 times (CLM-0379). Evening out the discount rates widens the gap rather than closing it (CLM-0380). The largest identified cause is the assumed cost of lifting each kilogram to the orbit where the satellite works (CLM-0382).
Layers in this area
| Layer | Covers | Target | Reached | Records |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| XC02 Economics and finance | LCOE, capex, opex, learning rates, discount rates, financing, insurance, subsidy, first-unit funding | L3 | L3 | 291 |
The record count is every record tagged to that layer, not the number published. What the depth levels mean.