According to a new report, U.S. Solar Market Insight Report, Q3 2015, it appears that this year will turn out to be an excellent year for solar panel installations in America.
The country has seen eight straight quarters where over one gigawatt of photovoltaic (PV) capacity was installed. Last year, over six gigawatts of capacity total were installed. This year, it’s estimated that the fourth quarter of this year alone will see more than three gigawatts of capacity installed. With that estimate, it’s likely to see 7.4 gigawatts of total installation in 2015 – clocking in at 19% year on year growth.
The fourth quarter has shown to be the biggest quarter of the year two years running, in terms of solar panel installation. This year is shaping up to follow that trend. You can also see that solar panel installations in the residential sector are consistently growing quarter over quarter as well. The other main contributor to this growth is expansion of PV installations in utilities.
The main tax credit, the 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit, has a planned step-down in 2016. Many are planning to take advantage of this credit before it ends, so the pipeline of new projects for solar panel installations is bursting. Between the last quarter and when those tax credits expire, there is about 15.4 gigawatts slated to be activated. Cumulative active PV capacity at the end of next year is estimated to be 41 gigawatts, another positive sign for the industry.
