Updated September 10, 2020

The U.S. installed 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of solar PV capacity in Q2 2020 to reach 85 GW of total installed capacity, enough to power 16.1 million American homes. Residential installations were down 23% from Q1 to Q2 2020, due largely to shelter-in-place orders during the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic that imposed restrictions on selling and installing residential solar. Wood Mackenzie forecasts 37% annual growth in 2020, with over 18 GWdc of installations expected, down 6% relative to pre-pandemic forecasts. In total, the U.S. solar market will install nearly 100 GWdc of solar from 2021-2025, 42% more than was installed over the last five years.

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.

WASHINGTON, D.C. and HOUSTON, TX – The U.S. solar market installed 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of new solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity in Q2 2020, a drop of 6% from Q1 installations. At the same time, utility-scale solar remained resilient despite the Covid-19 pandemic, representing 71% of all new solar capacity brought online in Q2. However, the U.S. Solar Market Insight Q3 2020 report, released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, noted that the residential and non-residential segments saw a significant slowdown in the quarter. Installations were down 23% quarter over quarter in the residential segment, and 12% quarter over quarter in the non-residential sector, due to restrictions and shelter-in-place orders imposed to curb the pandemic. (Keep reading)

For more facts and figures about the U.S. solar industry, including historical data and future projections, click here.