Inflation Reduction Act

Utility-scale solar PV capacity added in 2022 reached nearly 13GW in the US, a drop from the previous year as supply chain constraints, and sourcing difficulties for solar panels slowed down the pace.

The US Department of Energy has announced that improvements will be made to two campuses of National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The US Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have released guidance pertaining to the domestic content bonus included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA); solar PV projects will need to meet requirements for both their PV and their steel components in order to benefit.  

The majority of the US solar industry has said that supply chain issues worsened in 2022, whilst a similar proportion also said that they expect to expand their businesses in 2023 directly because of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Clean energy trade bodies ACP, ACORE and SEIA have denounced an attempt by Republicans to roll back the Act, which has spurred unprecedented investment in the US market.

Community solar is poised to exponentially grow in the coming years through the IRA and other state-level legislations, as well as in agriPV.

Microinverter supplier Enphase Energy is expected to ship 100MWh of batteries in the current quarter with the gross margin reaching more than 40%, while its net income in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 183.4% year-on-year.

US-based clean energy company Avangrid has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) with a view to developing 1GW of solar, wind and energy storage assets.

Over 400 US solar companies have sent a letter to Congress advising against the repeal of Joe Biden’s two-year waiver on solar import tariffs, led by trade body the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

The US market is expected to see a strong uptick in overall module supply, both domestic and overseas, in 2023. Alongside this will be a range of different module technologies, making the US market the most differentiated from a technology standpoint this year.