While U.S. solar development, up to now, has been concentrated in states such as Texas and California, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has expanded opportunity in other areas, including in coal communities and low-income areas where battery storage technology manufacturing and deployment is being focused, says a late 2023 report from Reuters.

The IRA gives renewable-energy developers the opportunity to receive 30 percent investment tax credits (ITCs) or $26-per-megawatt-hour production tax credits (PTCs) if they meet wage and labor requirements. The IRA also expanded ITCs to stand-alone battery energy storage systems (BESS), a significant impetus to a crucial infrastructure that is needed to drive the clean-energy transition.

Mark Noyes, CEO of RWE Clean Energy, the second-largest solar operator in the United States, is quoted in the report as saying, “We cannot understate the benefit of the stand-alone BESS ITC.”

The IRA also provides additional