Already a booming industry, solar power continues to grow in the United States. This appears to be a key take-away from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s annual Tracking the Sun report for 2024. The reporting, which tracks trends in project characteristics, median installed price trends and variability in pricing, covers projects installed through 2023.
Data was collected from close to 80% of the 3.7 million systems installed in 2023 across 31 states. Sampling included a customer base comprised of residential, large nonresidential and small nonresidential purchasers.
The data-heavy report reveals that while photovoltaic (PV) system prices vary across projects, residential system sizes and sales—driven in part by increasing module efficiency and overall lower prices—have increased. Residential PV systems tend to be roof-mounted and typically hold a 20%–40% roof coverage ratio.
Ground-mounted solar panels are more prevalent in nonresidential systems, accounting for almost half (46%) in 2023. Nonresidential users cover a variety of businesses across a number of sectors, including technology (e.g., Meta, Microsoft, Apple), retail (e.g., Walmart, Target, Home Depot), service (e.g., Starbucks) and industrial farming.
Pricing has risen in nonresidential systems, as well as for battery storage attachment rates in general.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects that for the first time on record, wind and solar energy production will exceed coal in 2024, with solar generation increasing 39% from 2023.
