GTM Research Highlights Top 2016 US Solar Trends To Watch

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GTM Research’s quarterly Solar Executive Briefing lays out several noteworthy trends to watch for in the solar industry this year.

The US solar industry had an impressive 2015, allowing its marked hockey-stick growth to continue — and that growth is only expected to continue through 2016.

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According to GTM Research, the US solar industry will install more than 10 GW of solar PV in 2016 for the first time ever, pushing the number of homeowners with solar installed past the 1 million mark.

Furthermore, GTM research predicts that, following the long-awaited extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) — approved in December after long months of deliberations in the US Congress — the 10 GW annual capacity addition mark won’t be a one-time thing, and GTM Research is predicting that solar installations could reach 20 GW per year by 2020.

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With the US Government approving the extension of the ITC, GTM now predicts that the policy risk will shift down to state and utility levels, with “net-metering and rate-design reform debates” expected throughout even more states countrywide.

GTM is also predicting a shake-up in the second and third positions in the residential solar installer market. SolarCity will unsurprisingly keep its top position, but Sunrun and Sungevity are likely to be compete with Vivint Solar and NRG Home Solar for the remaining top spots.

The US non-residential solar market will remain fighting for financing solutions and development bottlenecks, and with the ITC extension, these issues will be put off until 2017.

Looking beyond the US for a moment, the Solar Executive Briefing expects emerging markets in South and Southeast Asia to gain prominence throughout 2016, while Latin America is expected to build on the impressive momentum that started in 2015. “Overall,” GTM noted, “global module supply and demand will be in balance” in 2016, though PV module component prices will continue to fall.


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Joshua S Hill

I'm a Christian, a nerd, a geek, and I believe that we're pretty quickly directing planet-Earth into hell in a handbasket! I also write for Fantasy Book Review (.co.uk), and can be found writing articles for a variety of other sites. Check me out at about.me for more.

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