Solar Market Insight Report

Introduction

• In 2024, the US solar industry installed nearly 50 gigawatts direct current (GW_dc) of capacity, a 21% increase from 2023. This was the second consecutive year of record-breaking capacity.
• Solar accounted for 66% of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the US grid in 2024, as the industry continued experiencing record growth.
• Domestic module manufacturing capacity grew an unprecedented 190% year-over-year, from just 14.5 GW at the end of 2023 to 42.1 GW at the end of 2024 and surpassed 50 GW in early 2025. This manufacturing is largely concentrated in the South, with 8.6 GW of capacity in Texas and 8.4 GW in Georgia. In 2024, cell manufacturing was reshored for the first time in five years as Suniva restarted production at its 1 GW factory in Georgia.
• In 2024, Texas maintained its position as the top-ranked state for new solar capacity installed for the second consecutive year, with 11.6 GW_dc. California narrowly beat Florida for the second position, driven by significant installation volumes in the utility-scale and commercial segments.
• The residential segment installed 4,710 MW_dc in 2024, a 32% decline from 2023. This was the segment’s lowest year of installed capacity since 2021, contributing to and impacted by company bankruptcies, sustained high interest rates, and consumer hesitancy ahead of the 2024 election. Forty-two states experienced annual contractions in capacity, with California declining by 45% year-over-year due to the net billing transition.
• The commercial solar segment installed 2,118 MW_dc in 2024, setting an annual record with 8% year-over-year growth. Strong deployments in California, Illinois, New York, and Maine contributed to a solid fourth quarter to round out the year.
• The community solar segment installed 1,745 MW_dc in 2024, marking its largest-ever year of capacity and a remarkable 35% increase over 2023. This growth was driven by record-breaking capacity additions in New York, Maine, and Illinois. Capacity in New York reached 861 MW_dc, a 66% increase year-over-year as interconnection conditions improved.
• The utility-scale segment installed a record-breaking 41.4 GW_dc in 2024, 33% year-over-year growth and the second consecutive annual record. Developers installed more than 16 GW_dc in Q4 alone. More than a quarter of the nation’s capacity was installed in Texas.
• Our annual Year in review report includes a 10-year outlook for every segment. We expect cumulative US solar capacity to more than triple from 236 GW_dc installed at year-end 2024, to 739 GW_dc installed by 2035, with average annual capacity additions of more than 45 GW_dc. This outlook is based on available information at the time of report publication.
• In the Year in review report, we also include our alternative scenarios (a High and Low case). Amidst considerable policy uncertainty, these scenarios consider different outcomes related to tax credit and tax equity availability, supply chain dynamics, interconnection, retail rate trends, federal and state policy, and the trajectory of interest rates. More details and data can be found in the full report.