U.S. Solar Market Insight

Updated September 7, 2023

The US solar industry installed 5.6 gigawatts-direct current (GWdc) of capacity in the second quarter of 2023, a 20% increase from Q2 2022 and an 8% decrease from Q1 2023. 2023 volumes are set to grow year-over-year, reversing the contraction the industry experienced in 2022.

The industry continues to recover slowly from the supply chain constraints it felt acutely in 2022. There is a cumulative total of 153 gigawatts direct current (GWdc) of solar capacity installed through the first half of 2023, and we expect this figure to grow to 375 GWdc by the end of 2028. Even with the current challenges facing this market, the solar industry is looking at many years of sustained, strong growth.

Overall, photovoltaic solar (PV) accounted for 54% of all new electricity-generating capacity additions in the first quarter of 2023.

Read the Latest Report

Click here to read the Executive Summary of the latest Solar Market Insight Report. The full report includes all the data and analysis from our Executive Summary plus incisive, state-level breakdowns of installations, costs, manufacturing and demand projections. To learn more about the Solar Market Insight Report series, click here.

Press Release

WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. solar industry expects to add a record 32 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in 2023, a 52% increase from 2022, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q3 2023 report released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie.

The solar market has been hampered in recent years by supply chain challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and exacerbated by restrictive trade policy. These challenges are beginning to abate, and as policies in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) take hold, Wood Mackenzie expects total operating solar capacity to grow from 153 GW today to 375 GW by 2028. (Keep Reading)