Panel data for utility solar PV and onshore wind costs and adoption with climate policy and macro variables

Published: 2 September 2025| Version 1 | DOI: 10.17632/hsnjbxb648.1
Contributor:
Brendon Tankwa

Description

Panel data for utility solar PV and onshore wind costs. A small amount of commercial/residential PV data is also available. This country–year panel compiles cost, deployment, policy, and macroeconomic series for utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind from 1990–2023. The release contains data for 96 countries. Focusing on the two utility technologies, the dataset includes 1356 installed-cost observations across 67 countries (solar PV: 556 in 49 countries; onshore wind: 800 in 55). Adoption series are broader: capacity and generation available for 81 countries (solar PV) and 73 countries (onshore wind). In 2023, countries with at least one cost observation account for about 97.8% of global utility-scale solar PV capacity and 98.7% of onshore wind capacity (generation coverage ≈97.0% and ≈98.5%), indicating that cost-covered jurisdictions span the vast majority of installed fleets. What’s inside. Core cost fields: Total installed costs (\$/kW), Module costs (\$/kW), Balance-of-System costs (\$/kW), LCOE (\$/kWh), and a source flag. Deployment: Capacity (MW), Production (GWh), plus Electricity Installed Capacity and Electricity Generation. PriceLevel (PPP ratio) is provided to construct PPP-adjusted measures. Policy variables are annual instrument-specific stringency scores (prefixed LEV3_) suitable for econometric studies (e.g., feed-in tariffs, auctions, renewable certificates, ETS in electricity, carbon taxes, fossil-fuel subsidy reform, renewable expansion planning, coal phase-out/credit restrictions, energy R\&D). Macro-institutional covariates support identification and robustness (finance, trade, growth, state capacity, inequality). Sources and harmonisation. Installed costs, LCOE, and component splits: IRENA compilations and a structured Baumgartner cost dataset (see Source per record). Deployment: IRENA capacity and generation time series. Policy indicators: annual stringency indices mapped from OECD climate actions/policies to consistent instrument-level measures (LEV3_). Finance and macro covariates: World Bank (exchange rate, GDP and GDP per capita, GDP growth, trade/GDP, FDI inflows/GDP, unemployment, urbanization, oil rents/GDP, R\&D/GDP), 10-year government bond yields (BidYield), and inequality (GINI). Technology capability and structure: IEA/clean-energy patent counts; product-space measures (Proximity, RCA). Intended use and limitations. Built for cross-country analyses of cost dynamics and policy effects, including panel econometrics, diffusion/cost modelling, and benchmarking of cost/diffusion trajectories. Coverage is uneven in earlier years and smaller markets; some fields are missing where sources are silent. Among countries with any cost observation, 41 are high-income and 26 are middle/low-income, but parts of Africa and Asia remain under-represented. Policy stringency scores summarise heterogeneous national designs; users should run sensitivity checks and consult the source.

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Steps to reproduce

This data is reproducible on the following sources: Baumgärtner, C. L., & Farmer, J. D. (2025). Will national renewable costs continue declining?. Available at SSRN 5310281. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). (2024a). Renewable power generation costs in 2023. Abu Dhabi: IRENA. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). (2024b). Renewable capacity statistics 2024. Abu Dhabi: IRENA. International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). (2024c). IRENASTAT: Electricity statistics (2024 edition) [Dataset]. IRENA Data & Statistics portal. (OECD, OECD Data Explorer) Nachtigall, D., Lutz, L., Cárdenas Rodríguez, M., Haščič, I., & Pizarro, R. (2022). The climate actions and policies measurement framework: A structured and harmonised climate policy database to monitor countries’ mitigation action (OECD Environment Working Papers No. 203). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/2caa60ce-en (OECD) OECD. (2024). The Climate Actions and Policies Measurement Framework (CAPMF): Database documentation (2024 update). OECD/IPAC. (stats.oecd.org, OECD) World Bank. (2024a). World Development Indicators (WDI) [Dataset]. World Bank DataBank. (DataBank, wdi.worldbank.org) World Bank. (2024b). Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI): Government effectiveness and related indicators [Dataset]. World Bank. (World Bank, DataBank) World Bank. (2024c). Price level ratio of PPP conversion factor (GDP) to market exchange rate (PA.NUS.PPPC.RF) [Indicator metadata]. World Bank DataBank. (DataBank) World Bank. (2020). Doing Business — Getting electricity: Price of electricity (US cents per kWh) (DB16–20 methodology) (IC.ELC.PRI.KH.DB1619) [Indicator metadata]. World Bank DataBank. (DataBank, World Bank) Energy Institute. (2025). Statistical Review of World Energy 2025. London: Energy Institute. (green-transition-navigator.org) Ritchie, H., Roser, M., & Rosado, P. (2024). Energy: Primary energy consumption [Dataset]. Our World in Data, University of Oxford. (Based on Energy Institute Statistical Review.) (LSE) International Energy Agency (IEA). (2024). Energy Technology Patent Data — Data Explorer [Dataset]. IEA. (Energy Institute) Andrés, P., & Mealy, P. (2025). Green Transition Navigator: Product–country Proximity & Revealed Comparative Advantage [Dataset]. Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge. (IEA)

Institutions

University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, Institute for New Economic Thinking

Categories

Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Economic Costs, Electricity Production, Renewable Energy, Technology

Funders

Licence