A year of snarled supply chains and energy crises impacted the solar market. But the future still looks bright.
Market Complications
The rate of new solar installations in the United States declined in 2022, according to a new report by the Solar Energy Industries Association. Last year, the U.S. added 20.2 gigawatts of new solar capacity, which represents a 16% decrease from the year before that.
This decrease is largely explained by a number of supply chain complications that challenged the industry last year. In addition to the lingering problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, increased investigations into the ethical sourcing of solar panels components caused delays in the market.
For instance, the U.S. Customs and Border Protections Agency opened an investigation last year into where some of the U.S. imports of solar panels from four Southeast Asian countries are illegally dumping or circumventing trade restrictions.
Additionally, the implementation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act has required companies to prove that none of their products have been manufactured using forced labor, particularly in relation to China’s alleged human rights violations.
A Good Year Ahead
Despite these challenges, analysts are predicting a massive amount of growth in the solar market this year. According to one report, many of the pro-solar government policies that have been passed in the last two years will begin having a much larger effect this year.
The same SEIA report that noted the 16% decrease last year also projects “a broad market recovery with growth across all sectors averaging 19% per year until 2027.” One of the analysts who worked on the report even said the completion of many of the delayed projects will bump up 2023 solar growth to 41%.
Even though 2022 represents a slight hiccup in the solar sector, market trends clearly show that renewable energy will continue to be a big-money business in the years and decades to come. At Summit Solar, we believe it is our job to help you find your way into this new and exciting sector at a personal level.