2022 Year in Review: A Tale of Two Halves
What a year! As 2022 draws to a close, we thought it would be good to look back at what happened in the solar markets and identify some lessons on the way. 2022 can be divided into two halves - the first half, where the market faced difficulties, and the second half, where things turned around and really picked up speed.
The beginning of the year saw continuing supply chain difficulties, with developers all over the country facing delays in sourcing modules and other equipment. This was compounded by the uncertainty of the Department of Commerce’s anti-dumping investigation - lots of companies were skittish about making long-term plans with the risk of fines and lawsuits hanging over their heads. As a result, the pace of development was slow, until the Biden Administration announced in June that there would be a 2-year grace period regardless of their final ruling.
With that announcement, things started to pick up, and in August, Congress broke a deadlock and signed the Inflation Reduction Act. This provided an enormous amount of stability for the industry, and the specifics of the law, like an increase in the credit, 10-year extension, transferability, and adders for various specifics, further improved the outlook for solar.
In September, the first SPI / RE+ conference since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic saw record-breaking attendance. Our own market research conducted with attendees sees the market doubling in size in the next five years, and doubling again five years later - a real show of optimism from those within the industry!
And as the end of the year approaches, we’ve seen the value proposition of solar vs. traditional utilities continue to improve even in the face of supply chain headaches and global political turmoil. For businesses across the US, solar is saving more money than ever as electricity prices soar by as much as 40%, and the resilience and maturity of the technology was demonstrated by the Florida community that stayed online through Hurricane Ian while their neighbors dependent on the grid went dark.
We’re looking forward to a booming year for solar in 2023, and can’t wait to see what comes next! Hopefully we’ll see additional IRA guidance released shortly to really kick things into gear!
