“According to Wood Mackenzie, the utility-scale sector will lead the solar industry’s growth over the next five years with 162 GW of new capacity. Cumulative solar installations across all market segments will nearly triple in size, growing from 129 GW today to 336 GW by 2027.”
“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. “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.
“The Inflation Reduction Act has given the solar industry the most long-term certainty it has ever had,” said Michelle Davis, principal analyst at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report. “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. It’s not an overstatement to say that the IRA will lead to a new era for the U.S. solar industry.”That’s not to say all is peaches and cream.
While the Biden–Harris administration has worked to pause tariffs on Chinese solar panels and open up trade more again, new legislation was passed right afterward closing the doors. “In June, the White House paused new solar tariffs for two years, providing some relief to the market. However, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act went into effect on June 21 and has resulted in detentions of solar modules, exacerbating ongoing supply chain challenges.