Wealth Japan learned from a report released on Wednesday by Wood Mackenzie and the US Photovoltaic Association that the US photovoltaic industry is expected to continue its growth trend until 2024; photovoltaic power generation accounted for more than 50% of the newly installed grid capacity last year. Due to the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which provides generous tax credits for clean energy technologies such as electric vehicles, wind, and solar power, among other things. The report states that up to 5 GW of new capacity could be added in 2024 on the basis of last year. The growth rates of commercial, community, and utility scale sub-market are expected to be 19%, 15%, and 26%, respectively.

Michelle Davis, Global Director of Solar Power at Wood Mackenzie and the main author of the report, said: "If the supply chain of the U.S. photovoltaic industry becomes more stable, more tax credit financing, and lower interest rates, we expect (photovoltaic installation) to increased by 17%. In the case of a restricted supply chain, reduced tax credit financing, and unchanged interest rates, we expect it to decrease by 24%."

The photovoltaic industry added 32.4 GW in 2023, an increase of 51% over 2022, mainly due to the improved stability of the supply chain as project backlogs were completed. Trade actions in 2022 blocked imports of photovoltaic equipment in the US, such as tariffs on imports from certain Southeast Asian countries and concerns about forced labor.

Last year, in the US, due to an increase of photovoltaic installations in the utility-scale sector, Texas ranked first in total photovoltaic capacity, growing by 77% compared to 2022. California led residential and commercial installations in 2023 as consumers took advantage of the state's existing net metering rules before switching to new net metering rules (NEM 3.0) in April this year. However, the report states that residential photovoltaic installations in California are expected to decline by 13% in 2024 with the transition to NEM 3.0.