The U.S. solar energy market will get a 40% boost from the Inflation Reduction Act, according to a report released Thursday by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie.
The report estimated the legislation would result in an additional 62 gigawatts of solar installations over baseline projections, boosting total total solar installations to 336 gigawatts by 2027, nearly triple the current 129 gigawatts.
“This report provides an early look at how the Inflation Reduction Act is going to transform America’s energy economy, and the forecasts show a wave of clean energy and manufacturing investments that will uplift communities nationwide,” said SEIA president and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper in a statement.
Wood Mackenzie principal analyst Michelle Davis said the Inflation Reduction Act has given the solar energy industry the most long-term certainty it has ever had.
“Ten years of investment tax credits stands in stark contrast to the one, two, or five-year extensions that the industry has experienced in the last decade,” Davis said in a statement. “It’s not an overstatement to say that the IRA will lead to a new era for the U.S. solar industry.”
Despite that robust outlook, the report said solar energy installation forecasts for 2022 have declined to 15.7 GW, the lowest since 2019.
That’s because the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act went into effect June 21, according to the SEIA report. It has resulted in detentions of solar modules, exacerbating supply chain problems.
“With this incredible opportunity comes a responsibility to clearly address concerns over forced labor and ensure that we have ethical supply chains throughout the world,” Hopper said in a statement.
The SEIA report found that demand for rooftop solar installations is “at historic highs in the face of power outages and increasing electricity prices.” According to the report, solar accounted for 39% of all new electric generating capacity additions in the first half of 2022.
First Solar, the nation’s biggest solar panel manufacturer, said in August it will invest up to $1 billion to build a new U.S. factory.
The U.S. solar market is now roughly 4.5% of the total electricity mix.
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Taking solar-powered lasers to new heights with four-mirror pumping
Bellingham WA (SPX) Sep 08, 2022
The design of efficient solar cells, which harness energy to generate electricity or produce hydrogen by splitting water, has received much attention globally. Another route to harnessing abundant, free solar energy: using it as a pumping source for lasers. High-power lasers are earmarked for several applications, including deep space communication, atmospheric sensing, high-temperature material processing, and hydrogen production. But, they are often expensive and suffer from performance setbacks arisi … read more