Policy

The US has once again come out on top after the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rejected a challenge by India in favour of its domestic content requirements (DCR).

Floridians may have voted in Amendment 4, a tax benefit that exempts renewable energy equipment on commercial buildings, but solar in Florida has much bigger problems to worry about.

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) US residential solar installations are expected to increase by 21% in 2016, yet growth in 2017 is expected to be a tepid 0.3%.

Despite US solar rapidly transitioning from an alternative energy source into a leading energy solution in recent years, barriers in regulation, communication and technology still prevent the industry from taking off into the mainstream arena, according to a panel of experts at Solar Power International (SPI) 2016.

Community solar is emerging as a promising new source of demand in the US, opening up access to solar among previously excluded groups. John Parnell reports on the prospects for a new market segment whose time seems to have come.

The average severity of insurance claims from the solar PV industry has increased by 87% over the past five years often as a result of extreme weather, according to new research from renewables insurance specialist GCube Underwriting.

Energy storage in the US is being propelled forward by falling costs and increasingly favourable markets and policy. But for the full value of storage to be realised, numerous regulatory and fiscal barriers must still be surmounted, writes Matt Roberts, executive director of the Energy Storage Association.

Growing 43% year over year in 2016, the US solar industry is taking off at a pace no one could have foreseen. Naysayers may cite the industry’s slow start, hampered by high upfront costs and initial niche appeal as reasons why solar still will not experience a consumer boom. But panellists at the opening session of the 13th annual Solar Power International convention made it clear just how solar energy could exceed expectations and is poised for not only growth, but mainstream acceptance.

The solar industry must grow up and revamp its approach to lobbying, a panel of US solar and utility experts have said.

Over the past 12 months, the US solar business has been on a rollercoaster ride, with the high-profile bankruptcy of SunEdison and the merger of SolarCity and Tesla stealing the headlines. Danielle Ola talks to the experts about some of the key trends shaping the world of solar finance and investment in the US.