Solar & Storage Finance USA

2023 is set to be a defining year for solar, storage and Solar Media’s 10th edition finance summit.

Last year saw the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which brings together an estimated $370 billion in federal funding over the next ten years to facilitate clean energy transition in the US. The IRA has immediately impacted the long-term outlook of the solar and storage industry.

Funding remains available for large-scale energy infrastructure drawn from the Department of Energy’s $40 billion loans program. In addition, the IRA is estimated to attract $600 billion in new investment resulting in an additional 222GW of solar installations over the next decade. This is enough to power an additional 165 million US homes.

The picture is similar for storage as the U.S. government has increased investment tax credits to 30% for energy standalone systems. Estimates indicate a further 20.8 GW of utility-scale battery storage will become operational by 2025. To date, 10 states have energy storage specific procurement targets with that list set to grow. The host state of this year’s summit, New York, is expected to incentivize an additional 5GW of residential, commercial, and utility-scale storage onto the grid.

Challenges remain as the sector continues to decode the updated tax credit structures, navigate the hurdles of the current inflationary environment and keep projects to schedule.