US Expected To Add 33 GW Of Solar Capacity In 2023: Wood Mackenzie

US Expected To Add 33 GW Of Solar Capacity In 2023: Wood Mackenzie

Wood Mackenzie, a research-based organization and SEIA (Solar Energy Industry Association), a solar industry association of the US shared an update on installed utility PV capacity in the US. Based on evidence, it estimates solar capacity can reach 4 GW by 2023. It showcases that the sector has achieved 58% growth compared to Q3 2022.

“Wood Mackenzie expects the US solar industry to grow 55% this year compared to 2022, a slight upward revision to
last quarter’s expectations. With nearly 33 GWdc of capacity expected, it will be the nation’s largest year of solar
installations by far. Unsurprisingly, most of this growth comes from the utility-scale segment, which bore the brunt of
the supply chain impacts in 2022,” the report said.

It adds that the residential system pricing experienced an increase of 3% year-over-year, whereas the commercial system pricing is down 2% year-over-year. In the case of utility segment system pricing, it was explained that it has witnessed an increase of 6% for fixed-tilt and 5% for single-axis tracking year-over-year.

US Distributed Solar Quarterly Update

The report finds that, in the energy mix, solar accounted for 48% of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the US grid through the first three quarters of 2023. It elaborates that the cumulative operating solar capacity now stands at 161 GWdc and 4.7 million systems.

The report on the residential segment set another quarterly record at 1.8 GWdc installed across more than 210,000 projects in Q3 2023, reflecting 12% growth over the same quarter last year. It finds that the installations are surging as backlogs of sales made before the switch to net billing in April are interconnected.

On the other hand, the commercial solar segment installed 363 MWdc, declining 3% compared to Q3 2022 and 6% compared to Q2 2023. The community solar segment reportedly installed 274 MWdc, a 14% increase over Q3 2022 and flat compared to last quarter. The report depicts stagnation in some major markets due to challenges such as interconnection, permitting, anassiting, which persist.

The utility-scale segment installed just over 4 GWdc in Q3 2023, representing 58% growth over Q3 2022, when supply chain constraints were severely suppressing installations, and flat compared to last quarter. This segment has already installed nearly as much capacity through the third quarter as all of 2022, mostly due to abating supply chain constraints.