The residential and commercial sectors contribute 30% of photovoltaic generation in the United States

The pace of solar PV commissioning in the United States has increased more than one and a half times. The capacity of PV panels commissioned nationwide increased from 18.1 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to 30.8 GW in 2023, with 8 GW commissioned in the residential and commercial sectors. This data is provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in the January issue of Short-Term Energy Outlook.

American solar infrastructure can be classified into three large segments: installations with a capacity greater than 1 megawatt (MW), which are connected to the common grid; solar panels with a capacity of more than 1 MW, which are used for industrial needs; and microgeneration facilities, that is, photovoltaic panels with a capacity of less than 1 MW, which supply the residential, commercial and industrial sectors.

The first of these three segments is the largest. The capacity of solar panels put into operation by US energy companies amounted to 11.2 GW of panels larger than 1 MW in 2022, up from 22.4 GW in 2023. A less important role in the implementation of large projects is played by the industrial sector, which had only 0.2 GW of photovoltaic panels with a capacity above 1 MW launched in 2023. A more important role in the development of the overall industry is played by the microgeneration segment (facilities with a capacity below to 1 MW), which represented 8.3 GW of solar panels. put into operation in 2023, of which 6.6 GW were in the residential sector, 1.4 GW in the services sector and 0.3 GW in the industrial sector.

The dominance of the residential sector is largely due to tax deductions, the rate of which in the United States increased to 30% in 2022. This has to do with the right of photovoltaic panel owners to deduct income tax. For example, purchasing solar panels worth $18,000 entitles you to a tax deduction of $5,400. The amount of expenses may include installation services for solar generators, as well as the costs of purchasing power batteries with a capacity of at least 3 kilowatt-hours. Tax incentives have caused a boom in the microgeneration segment: the capacity of solar panels put into operation in the US residential sector has increased from 4 GW in 2021 to 5.2 GW in 2022 and 6.6 GW in 2023.

In the coming years, this sector is likely to continue developing at almost the same pace. According to EIA forecasts, the capacity of solar panels put into operation in the US residential sector will reach 5.4 GW in 2024 and 6 GW in 2025.