US Sees Rise In Solar Panel Manufacturing
Solar module manufacturing capacity in the United States now exceeds 31 GW — a nearly four-fold increase since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) became law in 2022. According to the recent US Solar Market Insight Q3 2024 report released by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, federal clean energy policies continue to drive manufacturing and deployment growth as the solar industry installed 9.4 GW of new electric generation capacity in Q2 2024.
In two years under the IRA, the solar industry has added 75 GW of new capacity to the grid, representing over 36% of all solar capacity built in US history. Nearly 1.5 million American homes have installed solar since the IRA passed.
“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 battleground states like Arizona, Nevada and Georgia,” said 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 the first half of 2024. States with closely watched elections this November, including Texas, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, and Arizona, are among the top 10 solar states in 2024.
“The solar industry had a great second quarter, mostly due to growth in the utility-scale segment,” said 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 labor 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 Q2 2024, driven by policy changes in California and high interest rates nationally. The sector added 1.1 GW of new capacity in Q2, 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 will grow at 4% on average over the next several years as the industry contends with previously mentioned challenges. By 2029, total US solar capacity is expected to double to 440 GW.
