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Source: SEIA

US solar module manufacturing capacity exceeds 31 GW


The manufacturing capacity for solar modules in the United States has exceeded 31 gigawatts (GW), reflecting a nearly four-fold increase since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was enacted in 2022.

In the second quarter of 2024 alone, domestic capacity grew by over 10 GW, reaching 31.3 GW as new facilities came online.

The US Solar Market Insight Q3 2024 report, released by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, highlights that federal clean energy policies continue to drive growth in both manufacturing and deployment. In the second quarter of 2024 alone, the solar industry installed 9.4 GW of new electric generation capacity.

The accelerator: IRA

Since the IRA's passage two years ago, the solar industry has added 75 GW of new capacity to the grid, accounting for over 36% of all solar capacity ever installed in the U.S. Additionally, nearly 1.5 million American homes have installed solar panels since the IRA was signed into law.

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 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 U.S. demand for years to come.”

“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.”

According to SEIA, 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 U.S. solar capacity is expected to double to 440 GW.

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