🔋 Solar energy and battery storage set to double in the US this year

🔋 Solar energy and battery storage set to double in the US this year

The US is expected to install twice as much solar energy and battery storage as last year. Growth for solar energy and battery storage is accelerating despite increased adoption. A total of 38 GW new solar energy capacity and 14.7 GW battery storage capacity is expected to be added during 2024.

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  • The US is expected to install twice as much solar energy and battery storage as last year.
  • Growth for solar energy and battery storage is accelerating despite increased adoption.
  • A total of 38 GW new solar energy capacity and 14.7 GW battery storage capacity is expected to be added during 2024.

Solar energy growth accelerates

During 2023, the USA added 19.3 GW of new large-scale solar energy capacity, which was 72 percent more than in 2022. Instead of decreasing after a record year, growth is expected to increase further in 2024. According to data from Cleanview, the USA is on track to add 38 GW of new capacity this year, almost twice as much as last year, writes Clearview Newsletter.

From Clearview Newsletter.

As of last month, developers in the USA had already added 17.3 GW of new solar energy capacity in 2024. An additional 20.7 GW of projects are currently under construction and expected to come online during the year.

Battery storage grows even faster

The growth of battery storage, a newer technology, is even more remarkable. Last year, the USA added 6.6 GW of large-scale storage capacity to the power grid. This year, the country is expected to add 14.7 GW - 123 percent more than in 2023.

Today, the USA has slightly more than 20 GW of storage capacity in the power grid. According to data from Cleanview, the total capacity will double by the end of next year.

From Clearview Newsletter.

Continued strong growth despite increased adoption

A rule of thumb for technological adoption is that the growth rate tends to slow down when a new innovation saturates the market. However, solar energy and battery storage show that they can maintain high growth rates over long periods.

Pessimists and experts have predicted for over a decade that growth would soon slow down. Each year they have been wrong. History has shown that these two technologies can grow faster and for longer than even the most optimistic analysts have expected.

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