US Solar Installation Boom Set To Continue

USA solar PV - 2016

IHS Inc. predicts solar PV installations in the USA will jump 67 percent year-over-year in 2016, with a record 15 gigawatts installed during the period.

The strong growth will be thanks to the extension of the investment tax credit (ITC); which was previously due to expire in its current form by the end of this year. The ITC has underpinned much of the USA’s solar uptake; providing a 30 percent credit for wind, solar and energy storage systems installed at eligible residential and commercial properties.

“The extension of the tax credit relieves pressure on the industry to complete projects ahead of the 2016 deadline and breathes new life into the US solar industry” said Camron Barati, North America solar analyst for IHS Technology. “Many feared the solar industry in the United States, which has experienced tremendous growth over the last several years, might collapse in 2017 without an extension of the ITC.”

Solar PV in the USA

The expected record levels of solar to be installed this year will primarily consist of utility-scale PV, with demand concentrated in the Western and Southwestern regions of the USA. Utility-scale solar will also account for over half of new capacity added from 2016 to 2019.

The next 4 years won’t be all-growth, all the time though. IHS says next year the PV market will contract 30 percent; due to a drop-off in utility-scale demand during 2017.

Solar capacity in the USA has grown 1,600 percent since the ITC was implemented in 2006.

Accompanying that growth has been a huge number of jobs. Figures from the latest National Solar Jobs Census indicate the USA’s solar workforce grew to a total of nearly 209,000 last year and accounted for 1.2 per cent of all new jobs across the nation.

According to the Energy Information Administration, total U.S. solar generation – including solar PV and solar thermal – was 3.6 million megawatt-hours (MWh) in September 2015. 33% of that total was attributable to small-scale solar panel systems; around 1.2 million megawatt hours.

During the first three quarters of last year, 30% of all new electric generating capacity activated in the U.S. came from solar states the most recent U.S. Solar Market Insight Report.

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