The U.S. solar industry now has the largest pipeline of utility-scale solar projects in history, signaling promising future prospects for solar energy development.
According to the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report from Wood Mackenzie and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the contracted pipeline has ballooned to a record 37.9 gigawatts, the highest in the history of U.S. utility solar photovoltaics. This follows record-high procurement of 15 gigawatts in 2018. More than 6 gigawatts of solar capacity were added to the five-year forecast since the previous quarter because of the uptick in utility-scale deals.
Utility solar project announcements surged to 11.2 gigawatts in first half 2019, with 6.2 gigawatts contracted in the second quarter alone.
According to the report, several utilities have announced large solar procurements, and corporate off-takers such as Starbucks, Microsoft and Anheuser-Busch have also made major announcements.
In fact, offsite corporate solar procurement represents 17 percent of the new utility-scale solar capacity announced in 2019.
For more information, download the executive summary or purchase the full report, which includes state by state segment-level installation data and forecasts, policy analysis, photovoltaics system pricing breakdowns, and updates on module manufacturing.
