Solar Bouncing Back

Utility Solar Procurement Booms as Residential Market Stabilizes in Q2 2018

September 13, 2018 (GTM Research)

The U.S. solar market has experienced a tumultuous few quarters since the government last year began considering tariffs on imported solar modules and cells, but data for the second quarter of 2018 show signs of a turnaround in the market…Utility solar project procurement soared in Q2 2018 as component prices declined and home solar installations steadied after a 15 percent contraction last year, according to the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report…This is the first quarter where the data clearly show that tariffs took a bite out of the solar market. Some previously-announced projects were canceled or delayed due to the tariffs.

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In Q2 2018, the U.S. market installed 2.3 GWdc of solar PV, a 9% year-over-year decrease and a 7% quarter-over-quarter decrease, despite the fact that module prices fell sharply in Q2 due to lower demand in China…[An acceleration of solar deployment is forecast for] the second half of 2018 driven by utility-scale projects… 8.5 gigawatts of utility PV projects were procured in the first six months of the year, the most ever procured in that timeframe…[and that is expected to continue] as developers look to secure projects they can bring online before the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) steps down to 10 percent in 2022…Module prices are at their second lowest mark in history even with the addition of a 30 percent tariff…[The 5-year forecast for utility-scale solar has been upped] by 1.9 gigawatts. That is still 8 percent lower than was projected before the tariffs were announced…Community solar continues to see rapid growth…” click here for more

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