Assertion Supported AI assessment confidence: 92% certainty 4/5 debate potential 1/5

Woolard: BrightSource cut costs to $3.90/W while PV fell to $2.50/W

John Woolard · Why concentrated solar couldn’t compete · Nov 13, 2024 · at 23:22

Former BrightSource CEO John Woolard explains the cost trajectory of utility-scale concentrated solar power compared to silicon photovoltaics in 2012.

0:00 / 0:21exact quote · 21.4s

720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark

“Well, so the engineering team was working really diligently and really hard to do whatever they could on costs, and our costs were going from, say, five dollars a watt to four dollars and 30 cents a watt and maybe down to about three 90 a watt. Meanwhile, at this point, PV is, is down at two dollars and 50 cents and dropping faster.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

The claim, plainly

Around 2012, BrightSource Energy's concentrated solar power capital costs decreased from $5.00 per watt to approximately $3.90 per watt, while photovoltaic solar dropped to $2.50 per watt and fell faster.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

Contemporaneous industry benchmarks and regulatory filings confirm both components of the claim. Around 2011–2012, BrightSource Energy's Ivanpah project baseline and subsequent project filings (such as Rio Mesa and Hidden Hills applications before the California Energy Commission) reflected capital costs moving down from initial baselines of roughly $5.00/W towards projected next-generation costs of ~$3.90/W. Meanwhile, NREL and Lazard capital cost reports show utility-scale fixed-tilt solar PV capital costs plummeted from ~$4.40/W in 2009 to $2.57/W in Q4 2011 and under $2.00/W by Q4 2012, outpacing CSP cost reductions.

BrightSource Energy regulatory filings and DOE Loan Programs Office records for Ivanpah and follow-on projects (Rio Mesa, Hidden Hills) reflected CSP capital cost trajectories declining from early estimates of ~$5.00/W toward ~$3.90/W.
NREL Photovoltaic System Pricing Trends documented utility-scale PV capital cost declines to $2.57/W by Q4 2011 and $1.97/W by Q4 2012.
Contemporaneous Lazard LCOE analyses (v5.0-7.0) confirmed utility-scale PV capital costs dropping into the $1.75-$2.50/W range by 2012-2013, falling at an annual rate exceeding 15%.

Checked against

[1] wikipedia.org [2] nrg.com [3] heavendesigns.in [4] energytransitionnow.com [5] psmag.com [6] sec.gov [7] latitudemedia.com [8] nlr.gov

"Lazard" "Levelized Cost of Energy" "2011" OR "2012" OR "2013" "Solar PV" "Solar Thermal" capital cost OR "$/kW" OR "$/W" NREL "utility-scale" PV capital cost "per watt" 2011 2012 2013 "BrightSource Energy" S-1 filing "capital cost" OR "Ivanpah" OR "Hidden Hills" "MW" "BrightSource" "Hidden Hills" OR "Ivanpah" "capital cost" OR "$/watt" OR "dollar per watt" OR "per watt"

assessed as of 2026-09-02

This assessment is an AI reading of a public statement, made against the cited references with the confidence shown. It can be wrong. The quote, the tape and the references are all on this page; if something is off, use report an error below. full disclaimer →

Mentioned

BrightSource Energy photovoltaic solar

⚑ Spot an error? Report it

More from John Woolard

Assertion Contradicted

Woolard: California regulators tried to halt Ivanpah over a tarp's color

“We happened to have a brown cover to that temporary, 18 month manufacturing facility, and the CEC, California Energy Commission tried to stop all construction, which basically would have killed the project, because the color of the tarp was not the right color…”

John Woolard Nov 13, 2024 ▶ 17:49 Why concentrated solar couldn’t compete

Insight

Woolard: Developing flat-cost tech against rapidly cheapening competitors is unwinnable

“If you're asked to develop something that's price is flat to increasing, when your competitor's price is decreasing every day, you're asked to do something you can't win at.”

John Woolard Nov 13, 2024 ▶ 2:25 Why concentrated solar couldn’t compete

Disclosure

Woolard: BrightSource leadership concluded CSP was no longer competitive in 2012

“That's when we basically said, we can no longer win game. We are no longer competitive. And that was a different message. We'd said, well, maybe you could, and you could sell in different attributes. But at that point, we said, this is no longer a competitive …”

John Woolard Nov 13, 2024 ▶ 22:49 Why concentrated solar couldn’t compete

Opinion

Woolard: Offshore wind at 15 cents is not economic against small nuclear

“To me, some of those might indicate that something like, I'll pick on offshore wind at You know, 15 cents and up is not economic compared to reliable power at a number lower than that.”

John Woolard Nov 13, 2024 ▶ 30:44 Why concentrated solar couldn’t compete

Assertion Contradicted

Woolard: BrightSource's power tower design cut solar thermal costs by ~40%

“It reduced, it was about a 40% cost reduction from the design alone.”

John Woolard Nov 13, 2024 ▶ 5:46 Why concentrated solar couldn’t compete

Assertion Contradicted

Woolard: Ivanpah operates at roughly 90% of its design capacity

“Ivanpah had some awkward parts ramping up, but ultimately delivered and ramps and produces power and energy today at about 90% of its original design capacity.”

John Woolard Nov 13, 2024 ▶ 27:51 Why concentrated solar couldn’t compete

Woolard: BrightSource cut costs to $3.90/W while PV fell to $2.50/W

More from John Woolard

Turn any episode into a week of clips.