Solar Market Opportunity Flattening Out

After years of double-digit growth, the U.S. rooftop solar market is shifting expectations to a flatter curve of adoptions and adjusting their business models to lower costs and improve profitability and cash flow
Sept. 15, 2016
Photo by Scott BarbourGetty Images
(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

After years of double-digit growth, the U.S. rooftop solar market is shifting expectations to a flatter curve of adoptions and adjusting their business models to lower costs and improve profitability and cash flow, according to coverage from Bloomberg.

Residential installations are already slowing from the 79 percent expansion in 2015. Developers are expected to add 2.76 gigawatts this year and that will inch upward to 2.77 gigawatts in 2017 as investment slips 6.4 percent to $6.8 billion, according to estimates from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Does this mean electrical manufacturers and distributors who didn’t jump on the solar bandwagon have missed their chance? Or with installation rates stabilizing just below 3 gigawatts is this an ideal time for companies with expertise in tight-margin flow business models to take their place?

About the Author

Doug Chandler, Senior Staff Writer

Executive Editor

Doug Chandler began writing about the electrical industry in 1992, and still finds there's never a shortage of stories to be told. So he spends his days finding them and telling them. Educationally, he's a Jayhawk with an English degree. Outside of work, he can often be found banging drums or harvesting tomatoes.