US Utility-scale PV Installation Slows Significantly in Q3 2022

The US PV industry saw a decline in installed PV system capacity installed in the third quarter of the year, the worst performance quarter in two years, as global supply challenges slowed market growth, delayed project development, and pushed up installation costs, the American Council on Clean Energy (ACP) reported in its survey.

The US installed capacity of utility-scale PV systems in the third quarter of 2022 was just under 1.9 GW, and the PV industry experienced its slowest quarter of installation growth since July to September 2020. This year is considered a landmark year for the US PV industry, but global supply challenges have hampered business growth, delayed project development and pushed up installation costs.

Despite this, industry bodies remain optimistic about the PV industry's growth. In its quarterly report, the American Council on Clean Energy (ACP) said that 550GW of renewable energy will be deployed in the US by 2030. Photovoltaic systems are expected to dominate the energy transition during this period, accounting for 59% of the installed capacity of renewable energy projects planned for development. And in the process, the US is expected to reduce its carbon emissions by 40% from 2005 levels. The American Council on Clean Energy (ACP) said that the US clean energy industry will add one million people to its workforce during this process.

This unprecedented commitment by the US government to the clean energy sector is the largest investment in clean energy on record, as President Joe Biden approved the Inflation Reduction Act on 16 August. The Inflation Reduction Act will boost the growth of installed clean energy capacity, ultimately more than tripling the annual installation of wind power facilities, photovoltaic systems and battery storage systems by 2030.

Despite the slow growth in the third quarter, 2022 is still the second highest year for installed PV system capacity in the US, trailing only 2021. The installed capacity of PV systems installed in the US in the third quarter of the year was down 23% compared to the same period last year. This slowdown is likely to continue for some time as there are still PV module supply issues and the US is struggling to inject the Inflation Reduction Act funds into the new domestic manufacturing supply chain.

By 2022, the total cumulative installed PV systems in the US will exceed 700 GW and the total installed utility-scale PV systems will reach 68 GW. The American Council on Clean Energy (ACP) said that US PV developers started 41 PV projects in the third quarter of this year, covering 18 states, with a total installed capacity of 1.87 GW.

The largest utility-scale PV project installed and operating during the quarter was the 430MW Old 300 solar PV project in Texas, developed by ?rsted, which sold its power to Microsoft through a power purchase agreement.