The US solar industry had the most growth of any quarter in its history in Q1 2023, as delayed projects from 2022 came online and supply chain constraints showed signs of loosening.
Combining solar plants with agriculture is becoming more prevalent in markets globally, increasing the availability of sites for new PV projects while reducing land-use conflicts. Will Norman details how the industry can take advantage of agrivoltaic opportunities while navigating construction, operation and maintenance challenges.
Solar and wind installations in the US could account for between 40% and 62% of total electricity generation by 2030, according to a report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The combined effects of the ongoing anti-dumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) tariff investigation and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) curbed US solar deployments in 2022, according to a joint report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie.
US community solar deployment is expected to more than double over the next five years despite 2022 seeing a 16% decline year-on-year, as the sector is set to see benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) taking hold.
Amid potential supply chain bottlenecks as China increases its PV manufacturing dominance, companies in markets such as the US, India and Europe are looking to leverage new policy support to scale up domestic production. Jules Scully charts the industry’s efforts to onshore solar module manufacturing.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is set to boost investment into US renewable energy deployment and manufacturing from US$64 billion in 2022 to US$114 billion by 2031, according to research from Wood Mackenzie, though a mismatch between solar deployment demand and domestic manufacturing capacity may see the sector’s domestic profile lag behind.
