According to US legislation, the solar ITC will remain at 26% for projects that begin construction in 2021 and 2022, step down to 22% in 2023 and down to 10% in 2024 for commercial projects while the residential tax credit will end completely.
Congress has reached a bipartisan deal that contains important emergency relief measures for the renewable energy industry, including a two-year extension of the investment tax credit (ITC) – critical to the solar power industry. The decision comes after the solar industry spent several months advocating for these changes. Under this Extending the solar tax incentives is a bipartisan vote of support for the renewable industry and the hundreds of thousands of Americans building our clean energy future. These policies will help get people back to work, accelerating our economic recovery and achieving greenhouse gas emissions reductions that scientists tell us are necessary to protect our climate. Companies beginning construction on projects in 2021 would still have a four-year period to place their projects in service to take advantage of the ITC, with the statutory deadline for projects placed in service reset to before Jan. 1, 2026.
“We are heartened to see Congress step up to provide Americans with some relief after our country has been mired in a public health and economic disaster,” says Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “The provisions that help solar workers and businesses are a result of SEIA’s tireless advocacy throughout this difficult year, and I want to thank our champions in Congress for understanding the immense economic value the solar industry offers to communities across the country.”
Solar & Storage Industry Forecast
Q1 2020, the U.S. solar market installed 2.7 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity, a 10% increase year-over-year and the strongest Q1 in the industry’s history. After a year in which the residential sector grew 8%, the rebound continued, with the sector experiencing a third consecutive quarter with more than 600 MWdc added. Conversely, non-residential PV suffered both quarterly and annual declines due to policy transitions and interconnection issues in key markets. The quarter was buoyed by 1.6 GW of utility-scale installations, with new project procurement growing the contracted pipeline to nearly 28 GW. Across all market segments, solar PV accounted for 51% of all new electricity generating capacity additions in Q1 2019. Further, solar surpassed the 2 million installation milestone in Q1 2019, The below forecast shows the grows all in three segments of solar to grow at steady growth thru 2024. Also, the Solar + storage will gain momentum during the same period.
