Solar power is a growing market for a good reason. Solar panels have gotten cheaper and cheaper, and installers are getting better and better at understanding the needs of their customers. Some solar companies even join trade groups like the Solar Consortium to share ideas, installation techniques and technologies, and training.
New Solar Products
New products from Enphase include the IQ8+ series microinverter. This is a new microinverter that is specifically designed to be grid-forming, in order to allow solar panels to operate even when the electric grid is down. This can be a life saver in conditions with frequent brown outs and black outs. Enphase has also renamed their suite of advanced backup technologies. The Enphase Empower Smart Switch is now called the Enphase IQ System Controller. The Enphase batteries which were previously called Encharge are now called IQ Batteries. Enphase is moving towards a unified IQ naming system, instead of having different Encharge, Empower, Envoy name conventions.
Growth of Solar in 2022
American solar and wind installations are now about to hit record highs in 2022 as a surge in excitement behind the energy transition to green energy grows, according to CNBC reporting.
S&P Global Market Intelligence is expecting as many as 40+ gigawatts of utility-scale solar projects to be installed next year, in addition to 27 gigawatts of wind power. For solar, this forecast is almost double the 2021 estimated 23 gigawatts of new installed solar power. This also blows away wind’s previous install record of 16 gigawatts.
To compare, this is still just a fraction of America’s total electric generation which is 1,200 gigawatts.
There are tons of reasons people are going towards solar and wind. One of them is expanding state-level renewable energy requirements as states are requiring utility providers to have a certain threshold of renewable generation in their portfolios.
S&P, the market intelligence firm, also noted there has been a large increase in the demand for green energy by corporations as they seek to meet renewable energy and carbon neutral standards. When a company wants to reduce it’s greenhouse gas output often switching to wind or solar is a huge first step.
Battery installation and storage is also growing rapidly, with an expected 8 gigawatts of energy storage to be installed in 2022.
President Joe Biden has stated that climate is a major priority of this administration as part of the goal to reduce carbon emissions.
Solar Jobs are Increasing
There are more jobs available in solar than ever, with energy companies hiring electricians, installation experts, and technicians across the board. Nearly every solar energy contractor has positions open for new installers.
Experts predict the solar energy sector is going to grow at 13% per year between 2020 to 2030. Currently over 200,000 workers are employed by the solar energy industry, including Solar Consortium Members.