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

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 million American homes.

So what can we expect from solar over the next 10 years? More importantly, what is happening now, and what will happen in 2023 that will impact the future of solar energy?

Abigail Hopper is the President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, the national trade organization for America’s solar industries. Every quarter, in conjunction with Wood Mackenzie, the S-E-I-A releases their US Solar Market Insight report. It examines the data and analyses installations, costs, manufacturing and demand projections.

John Berger is founder and CEO of Sunnova, a leading residential solar and storage provider.

They both join David on the Interchange to look at some key aspects of the report, and explore the direction of solar in the US in 2023.

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