US solar market has largest second quarter ever, adds 2.4 GW

Published on September 13, 2017 by Kevin Randolph

The U.S. solar industry installed 2387 megawatts (MW) of solar photovoltaics (PV) in the second quarter of 2017, making it the largest second quarter to date.

This is an 8 percent year-and-year increase and surpasses the total from quarter one of 2017, according to the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

“This report shows once again that solar is on the rise and will continue to add to its share of electricity generation,” Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO, said. “Last year, solar companies added jobs 17 times faster than the rest of the economy and increased our GDP by billions of dollars. We are going to continue to fight for policies that allow the industry to continue this phenomenal growth.”

The commercial, residential, and utility-scale sectors of the solar market all experienced quarter-over-quarter growth and the non-residential and utility-scale market segments had year-over-year growth.

Utility-scale solar represents 58 percent of the PV capacity installed in the second quarter. The United States added 563 MW of residential solar PV, which is a quarter-over-quarter increase but a 17 percent year-over-year decrease.

“Slowdown in residential solar is largely a function of national installers scaling back operations in major state markets as they prioritize profitability over growth,” GTM Research Solar Analyst Austin Perea said. “While California was the first major market to exhibit signs of slow-down in Q1, many major Northeast markets began to feel the impact of national installer pull-back in Q2 despite a stable policy environment and strong market fundamentals.”

The report forecast that the U.S. solar industry would add 12.4 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity this year and triple cumulative capacity over the next five years. Perea noted, however, that the trade relief currently being considered by the U.S. International Trade Commission could change these forecasts.