Energy Storage Market Outlook 

The Energy Storage Market Outlook (ESMO) is a quarterly publication produced by the Solar Energy Industries Association and Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. ESMO draws on Benchmark’s proprietary grid and behind the meter data on U.S. energy storage deployment, which when combined with SEIA’s industry leading expertise, provides a detailed analysis of the state of the U.S. energy storage market and forecasts to inform industry leaders, investors, manufacturers, and policymakers. The report includes comprehensive analysis of deployment trends, market sizing, and growth projections for utility scale and behind the meter segments, in addition to an energy storage supply chain analysis, federal and state policy overview, and technology roadmaps and developments.

Key Findings

• In Q1 2026, battery energy stationary storage (BESS) installations reached 9.7 GWh, the largest Q1 in history and a 32% year-over-year increase.
• The utility-scale market continued underpin growth, with 7.8 GWh/ 1.5 GW installed, with six states adding more than 500 MWh of new capacity.
• Meanwhile, the behind-the-meter (BTM) market deployment fell to 1.91 GWh, largely due to the decrease of deployments in the residential industry to 515 MWh, a 35% quarter-over-quarter. The C&I space also saw a drop, adding 648 MWh.
• Many EV factories are retooling production lines to serve the energy storage market, and the United States could reach over 120 GWh of battery cell manufacturing if all of these facilities come online as planned.
• By 2030, the market is set to exceed annual installations of 110 GWh and install a cumulative 613 GWh.

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