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Solar energy dominates additions to the U.S. power grid in 2024

By: Equities.com
Solar energy dominates additions to the U.S. power grid in 2024

The United States installed a record-breaking 50 gigawatts of new solar capacity in 2024, the largest single year of new capacity added to the grid by any energy technology in over two decades, a new study shows.

According to the U.S. Solar Market Insight 2024 Year in Review report released this week by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie, solar and storage account for 84% of all new electric generating capacity added to the grid last year.

U.S. solar manufacturing also enjoyed a banner year  in 2024. Domestic solar module production tripled last year and, at full capacity, U.S. factories can now produce enough to meet nearly all demand for solar panels in the United States. Solar-cell manufacturing also resumed in 2024.

“Solar and storage can be built faster and more affordably than any other technology, ensuring the United States has the power needed to compete in the global economy and meet rising electricity demand,” SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said in a press release announcing the highlights of the report.

“America’s solar and storage industry set historic deployment and manufacturing records in 2024, creating jobs and driving economic growth. It’s critical that lawmakers continue to support an ‘all of the above’ energy strategy that fosters the growth of American energy sources like solar and storage,” she said.

Total U.S. solar capacity is expected to reach 739 gigawatts by 2035, but the report forecasts include scenarios showing how policy changes could impact the solar market. Sudden changes to federal tax credits, supply chain availability and permitting policy will create uncertainty for investors, increase costs for developers and manufacturers and cause a slowdown in solar deployment, according to the report.

“Last year’s record-level of installations was aided by several solar policies and credits within the Inflation Reduction Act that helped drive interest in the solar market,” said Sylvia Leyva Martinez, Principal Analyst, North America Utility-Scale Solar for Wood Mackenzie.

“We still have many challenges ahead, including unprecedented load growth on the power grid. If many of these policies were eliminated or significantly altered, it would be very detrimental to the industry’s continued growth,” she said.

In what it called the low-case forecast with major cuts to policy, the report forecasts a 130 gigawatt decline in solar deployment over the next decade compared to the base case, representing nearly $250 billion of lost investment.

A slowdown at this scale could leave the U.S. without the electricity needed to meet rising demand, threatening growth in the manufacturing and technology sectors that rely on abundant power, the report says.

Many of the fastest-growing solar states such as Texas, Indiana, and Florida would see the largest declines in deployment under the low-case scenario. Texas alone could lose out on over $50 billion of solar investment over the next decade.

Texas led all states for new solar capacity additions last year, replicating a record-setting 2023 with 11.6 gigawatts of new installations. In total, 21 states set new annual installation records, and 13 states added over 1 gigawatts of new solar capacity in 2024.

The utility-scale segment saw historic gains in 2024, growing by 33% year-over-year with a record 41.4 gigawatts of installed capacity. The community and commercial solar markets also set annual records, growing by 35% and 8%, respectively.

The residential solar market experienced its lowest year of installations since 2021 due to state-level policy changes and elevated interest rates nationally. Forecasts show that the market is expected to rebound over the next decade.

Watch this video: AI assistant for clean energy with Craig Sanders, CEO of Helpen

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