U.S. solar market expanded by 10.6 GW in 2017

Last year, the U.S. solar market continued a two-year trend by expanding solar photovoltaic additions by double digits.

A report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) found that 10.6 gigawatts (GW) of new PV capacity was installed in 2017–a figure down from the previous year, but still representing sizeable market growth. The non-residential market had an especially good year, boasting a 28 percent growth that made 2017 the fourth straight year of such positive figures. In fact, 30 percent of all new electric generating capacity installed in the United States that year came from solar sources, making them second only to natural gas.

“The solar industry delivered impressively last year despite a trade case and market adjustments,” SEIA President and CEO Abigail Ross Hopper said. “Especially encouraging is the increasing geographic diversity in states deploying solar, from the Southeast to the Midwest, that led to a double-digit increase in total capacity.”

Minnesota and Massachusetts led the pack in the community solar market. Minnesota, alone, saw more megawatts installed than there were total U.S. community solar installations in 2016, according to Austin Perea, GTM Research solar analyst and co-author of the report.

Residential and utility-scale operations, however, were both down in 2017–the first time this has happened since the annual report began in 2010. Only two of the top 10 state markets for residential solar in 2016 saw growth in 2017. There were a number of reasons for this. For one thing, many projects had been rushed in 2016, in order for their owners to capitalize on a 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit before it expired. Tariff uncertainty also caused many to postpone or pull out entirely, and interconnection delays didn’t help matters.

GTM Research has also lowered its optimistic forecast for 2018-2022 by a staggering 13 percent. While market dynamics have played a part, federal and state policy changes such as the corporate tax reform and imposition of tariffs factor in heavily. Still, they expect capacity to more than double over the next five years.