Solar is becoming a more common option for many homeowners these days—something we have explored in depth here on this blog. It is a good option to help reduce emissions and energy costs in home, although it does often come with a large upfront price tag that can sometimes be hard to ignore. The good news is the technology continues to advance, offering new capabilities and features for homeowners.
Consider the example of SolarEdge Technologies, which has unveiled the latest version of its SolarEdge Home Hub and Wave inverters in the United States. The new inverters will be integrated with the PCS (power control system) technology, which will enable installation of PV systems that are more than 50% larger without requiring costly and time-consuming main panel upgrades. The objective here is to maximize power generation while lowering the cost of energy produced.
This comes with many benefits. For instance, the technology can now monitor, balance, and control the currents on the main panel busbar, which results in the ability to install larger PV systems. This means that a typical home with a 200 Amp main panel would be able to install up to three 11.4kW SolarEdge inverters without going through a main panel upgrade.
Additionally, we see here that the architecture enables up to 200% DC oversizing and storage of excess PV in the SolarEdge Home DC-coupled battery. Other improvements include software innovations for faster commissioning and automotive-grade critical components for enhanced inverter reliability, just to name a few.
All this to say, the technology continues to advance. With this example we see homeowners are able to install larger systems on their roofs, ultimately improving the economics and the battery storage of the system. This could provide great value to many all across the United States.
While this is simply one example, solar is becoming more widespread across the United States. The Solar Energy Industries Assn., suggests in the last decade alone, solar has experienced an average annual growth rate of 24%, due to a number of factors including strong federal policies, declining costs, and the increased demand for clean energy.
Solar is also an industry that is providing jobs for many Americans. As of 2022, more than 263,000 Americans work in solar at more than 10,000 companies in every state in the United States. The industry has also generated nearly $35 billion of private investment in the American economy.
Additionally, solar is adding more capacity to the grid each of the last four years and did so again in the first quarter of 2023. In fact, 54% of all new electric capacity added to the grid in this quarter came from solar.
Looking to the future, the solar industry is expected to nearly triple in cumulative deployment by 2028, as the Inflation Reduction Act provides key tax incentives and long-term confidence that will create demand for solar and storage and accelerate the transition to renewable energy. All in all, the future looks to be solar. What are your predictions for what comes next?
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