Near four-fold growth in US solar panel manufacturing capacity under new federal incentives

Solar module manufacturing capacity in the US now exceeds 31 GW, a nearly four-fold increase since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) became law in 2022, according to the latest sector analysis by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie. They report that federal clean energy policies continue to drive manufacturing and deployment growth, with the solar industry installing 9.4 GW of new electric generation capacity in 2Q2024.

The solar industry has added 75 GW of new capacity to the grid in two years under the IRA, representing over 36% of all solar capacity built in US history. Nearly 1.5 million American homes have installed solar since the IRA passed, according to the analysis.

‘The solar and storage industry is turning federal clean energy policies into action by rapidly creating jobs and powering economic growth in all 50 states, particularly in [presidential election] battleground states like Arizona, Nevada and Georgia,’ comments SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper. ‘We are now manufacturing historic amounts of solar energy in America, and soon we will have enough domestic module production to supply nearly all US demand for years to come.’

Texas continues its run as a dominant solar market, leading the nation with 5.5 GW of solar capacity installed in 1H2024. States to be closely-watched in the election this November, including Texas, Florida, Nevada, Ohio and Arizona, are among the top 10 solar states in 2024, notes the report.

‘The solar industry had a great second quarter, mostly due to growth in the utility-scale segment,’ continues Michelle Davis, Head of Global Solar at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report. ‘But future solar growth is being hindered by broader power sector challenges – interconnection backlogs, electrical equipment shortages and constraints on labour availability. The industry also faces uncertainty related to newly proposed tariffs and the presidential election. There is currently a lot to navigate in the solar industry.’

The residential solar market continued to contract in 2Q2024, finds the analysis, driven by policy changes in California and high interest rates nationally. The sector added 1.1 GW of new capacity in the period, its lowest quarter in nearly three years. However, the residential solar market is expected to see growth again in 2025 and is projected to set annual records from 2026–2029. Annual solar installations are expected to grow at 4% on average over the next several years. By 2029, total US solar capacity is expected to double to 440 GW.

National Grid Renewables breaks ground on third Texas solar project

Among the new solar projects being developed that will contribute to this anticipated doubling of solar capacity is National Grid Renewables’ Blevins solar project in Falls County, Texas, which has commenced construction on site.

Once operational in late 2025, the 270 MW project is expected to deliver 125 MW of clean power to Fujifilm and 145 MW to Bristol Myers Squibb under power purchase agreements signed in late 2023.

Blevins is National Grid Renewables’s third solar project in Texas (and its second in Falls County). The company has invested in nearly 1 GW of renewable energy projects in the US state, including the 275 MW Noble and 550 MW Copperhead solar and storage projects, and the 114 MW Great Plains wind farm.

Iberdrola begins installation at Camino solar farm in California

Meanwhile, Iberdrola Group company Avangrid has begun installing the first of some 105,000 solar modules at its 44 MWac (57 MWdc) Camino solar project in California.  

Camino is being built next to the company’s 189 MW Manzana wind farm, which was built in 2012. Once construction is completed, Camino will become the 10th solar project in Avangrid’s portfolio of projects and its first in California.

Avangrid has six other wind energy projects in California with a combined operating capacity of over 500 MW. Parent company Iberdrola was recently awarded a 791 MW contract to build the New England Wind 1 offshore wind farm, bordering Vineyard Wind 1, the US’ first large-scale offshore wind project which is currently under construction.

DNV launches new service to respond to climate change-driven hail risk for solar PV

Extreme hail events have caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage at solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in North America, even in areas historically less prone to hailstorms. It is estimated that in Texas alone there has been more than $600mn dollars of damage due to hail in the past two to three years. The increase in resulting damage, as well as new uncertainty about hail-prone areas, has precipitated changes to insurance policies and threatens the financial viability of solar projects in these regions, reports DNV.

In response, DNV has partnered with climate risk analytics company Jupiter Intelligence to launch a new service to provide solar PV developers with assessments of large hail risk across North America.  

‘Relying on historical data no longer provides an accurate assessment of hail risk, especially when it comes to the size of the hail and the location of the hailstorms,’ says DNV. ‘Recent research on hail patterns indicates that over the last several decades severe hail events are shifting northward in the central and eastern US, areas with a high density of installed solar PV.’