The US Solar Industry Is Booming - What's Driving The Growth?

The Interchange: Recharged

In the US last year, solar PV capacity totalled 142 GW, enough to power 25 million homes. Falling costs, advancements in storage and cell technology and supportive government policies drove record growth in 2022. This was an 11% year on year increase. Residential solar in 2022 had a record year, with nearly 6 GW of installations, a 40% increase on 2021.

It wasn’t all plain sailing. We saw some downturns in other market segments as supply chain issues caused delays and roadblocks to adoption. Utility-scale solar was down over 30% year on year, but despite these challenges, the IRA and other market forces have created upside to long-term solar forecasts. Over the next decade, the industry will grow five-fold. 700 GW of total capacity could power more than 125 million American homes.

So what can we expect from solar over the next 10 years? Just how bright is Solar’s future. In this episode of the Interchange recharged we’re joined by Abigail Hopper, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and John Berger is founder and CEO of Sunnova (a leading residential solar and storage provider).

This edition of the podcasts uses data from the US Solar Market Insight®, a quarterly publication from Wood Mackenzie and SEIA®. Each quarter, we collect granular data on the US solar market from nearly 200 utilities, state agencies, installers, and manufacturers. This data provides the backbone of this US Solar Market Insight® report, in which we identify and analyze trends in US solar demand, manufacturing and pricing by state and market segment over the next five to ten years. You can download a free executive summary or buy the full report on our website.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.