Key updates from this Quarterly Solar Industry Update presentation:
- The passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 had several provisions that will impact photovoltaic (PV) economics and change funding levels for various investors.
- The president issued a proclamation imposing safeguard tariffs on imported crystalline silicon cells and modules to begin February 7.
- In 2017, five states issued successor net metering decisions, bringing the total to 10.
- China installed approximately 53 gigawatts (GW) of PV systems in 2017, bringing its total PV installations to 130 GW—distributed PV systems represented a much larger percentage of installed capacity compared to previous years.
- In 2017, India grew its market ~125% y/y to around 9 GW.
- The United States installed 2.0 GW-DC of PV in Q3 2017, its lowest quarter since Q3 2015—cumulative capacity reached 47.5 GW.
- EIA estimates that 29% of all new U.S. electricity generating capacity came from solar installations in 2017—second to natural gas.
- In the first 11 months of 2017, 13 states produced more than 2.5% of total net generation from solar.
- In Q3 2017, large residential installers report continued declines in installation costs but face challenges reducing overhead costs.
- As of February 2018, there are 250,000 solar jobs in the United States—down 4% y/y.
- Global module ASP continues to decline to 30–35 cents per watt, while many manufacturers report module costs at similar values.
- U.S. module pricing traded at a premium in late 2017 due to tariff concerns.
- In 2017, solar stocks, on average, performed much better than the broader market.