The United States deployed 35.3 GW of new solar capacity in 2023, an increase of 52% versus the 23 GW deployed in 2022. Despite lower electricity demand, significant declines in both wind and hydro generation resulted in minimal growth in total clean electricity. The figures were released by BloombergNEF, along with the Business Council for Sustainable Energy, in their Sustainable Energy in America 2024 Factbook. For the year, the United States set a record in utility-scale solar, deploying 23.7GW of capacity of solar mounting systems, some of which were projects delayed from the previous year due to supply chain issues. Small scale solar totaled nearly 11.6GW of capacity, a record as well. The total capacity deployed, 35.3 GW, was 52% greater than the new capacity of just under 24 GW in 2022. The US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) and Wood Mackenzie Renewables & Power project at least 50 GW of solar being deployed in 2024. Along with solar adjustable brackets, 7 GW of wind were deployed, in addition to 7.5 GW of battery storage. The battery capacity deployment increased by 62% over the prior year, bringing the nation’s total deployed capacity to 19.6 GW. In 2024, the EIA sees 15.3 GW of new battery capacity being deployed, which would be a 78% expansion of the nation’s battery fleet.

AFSIA has released a new annual report on PV deployment in Africa. It said the continent connected around 3.7 GW of new solar mounting systems in 2023. About 65% of the new installations were industrial and commercial (C&I) power plants for self-consumption, said AFSIA. “Unlike other regions of the world, there have been only a handful of large-scale projects, responding to government requests, that have been connected to the African power grid in 2023,” it added. The association estimated that Africa passed the 16 GW threshold of cumulative installed PV capacity at the end of December. However, that “does not take into account residential installations which are not monitored by AFSIA,” it added. The figure is only based on projects it has identified, while some projects may still be unknown at this stage, it explained. In 2023, the continent installed 3.7 GW of new capacity. South Africa accounted for nearly 3 GW of the total, primarily driven by C&I projects (75%). The country's connected PV capacity increased from 4.2 GW in 2022 to 7.1 GW by the end of 2023. “By quickly changing tack to focus on self-consumption, South Africans are showing the rest of the continent the way forward. A path where alternative options exist and are financially viable in the event of failure of the national public utility,” said AFSIA. “The South Africans had no choice and had to adapt very quickly.” Burkina Faso has installed the fixed adjustable brackets solar capacity in Africa with 92 MW, followed by Mauritania with 84 MW, Kenya with 69.5 MW, and the Democratic Republic of Congo with 40 MW. Except for Mauritania, where all of the new capacity is C&I, these countries have built large-scale projects. Another 15 countries installed more than 10 MW each last year, but most African states remain below 1 MW of installed capacity.

From pv magazine India More than 250 million households across India have the technical potential to deploy 637 GW of solar energy capacity on rooftops, according to a new independent report by CEEW. The researchers said that rural areas have a higher technical rooftop potential of 363 GW than urban areas (274 GW) considering the residential rooftop area. Residential willingness to install rooftop Solar mounting systems is the highest in Gujarat at 13%, while the national average is 5%. The report stated that deploying just one-third of the 637 GW solar potential could meet the residential sector’s entire electricity demand of 310 TWh. The overall technical potential reduces to one-fifth (118 GW) after factoring in the current electricity consumption of households. “Most residential consumers fall into low-consumption slabs and solar may not be economically feasible for them without financial support even though it is technically possible,” said CEEW. The potential reduces further to 11 GW when no capital subsidy is considered. “The payback period for rooftop solar is restricted to five years and we factor in consumers’ willingness to buy fixed adjustable brackets,” explained the researchers. However, with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy’s capital subsidy, the researchers noted the potential to increase to 32 GW as the subsidy makes the solar systems feasible for more consumers.

 Image: Unsplash The estimated additional demand for steel for photovoltaic brackets in 2023 is about 4.85 million tons. Photovoltaic brackets are referred to as the "skeleton" of photovoltaic power plants. They are special structural components designed to support, fix, and rotate photovoltaic modules in photovoltaic power generation systems. Together with photovoltaic modules, combiner boxes, inverters, and other core equipment, they form the photovoltaic power generation system. As an important supporting structure in the photovoltaic system, its core requirements are safety and ease of installation. Solar mounting systems are mainly composed of columns, main beams, purlins, welding parts, and foundations. They can be divided into fixed brackets and tracking brackets based on whether the angle can be freely adjusted later. Among them, fixed brackets can be further divided into fixed brackets and fixed adjustable brackets, and tracking brackets can be divided into single-axis tracking brackets and dual-axis tracking brackets. The market size of the photovoltaic bracket industry expands with the growth of photovoltaic installed capacity. The overseas tracking bracket industry started early, with mature technology and higher recognition downstream. At the same time, the construction of large domestic projects and other factors have brought broad market prospects for the application of tracking brackets, which are expected to penetrate rapidly. According to the forecast of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, assuming a capacity ratio of 1.2, the global penetration rates of tracking brackets from 2022 to 2025 are projected to be 60%, 64%, 68%, and 72% respectively. Assuming the average selling price of brackets changes by 0%, -3%, -2%, and -2% based on 2020, the total market size of brackets (tracking + fixed) in 2021 is estimated to be approximately 66.5 billion yuan, and is expected to reach 117.7 billion yuan by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.4%. The market size of tracking brackets in 2021 is estimated to be around 31.4 billion yuan, and is expected to reach 65.1 billion yuan by 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.0%. The compound annual growth rate of the tracking bracket industry in the next five years will be higher than that of the fixed bracket industry.

Image: Pv-tech According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), solar manufacturing jobs in the US are expected to more than triple in the next decade. Currently, the solar manufacturing industry provides around 35,000 jobs. However, with the US government's increased production efforts and significant investments in expanding domestic solar manufacturing capacity, this number is projected to reach 120,000 jobs by 2033. In Dalton, Georgia, Qcells plans to enhance its solar module assembly capacity by 2GW. An investment of US$2.5 billion will support the entire supply chain and create over 2,500 jobs. By 2024, the company's total solar panel production capacity in Georgia will reach 8.4GW. Additionally, in Cartersville, Georgia, Hanwha Advanced Materials Georgia (HAGA) will construct a new manufacturing facility for producing encapsulants, which are used to seal solar cells and ensure their durability. These encapsulants will be supplied to QCells for use in their module production. The Cartersville facility is expected to bring in US$147 million in private investment and generate 160 jobs within the industry. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp stated, "Since we first welcomed Qcells to our state in 2018, we've announced more than 4,000 related jobs for Georgians." Furthermore, in Memphis, Tennessee, PV tracker supplier Nextracker has collaborated with MSS Steel Tubes USA to establish a new factory specializing in the production of low-carbon steel torque tubes for solar tracking systems. These torque tubes play a crucial role in efficiently rotating PV modules for optimal sunlight absorption. This factory will create 129 jobs and contribute to millions of dollars in local economic investment. It will also support projects across multiple states, including Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia. The expansion of the solar manufacturing industry, coupled with the development of solar mounting systems, demonstrates the growing significance of the solar sector in job creation, economic growth, and sustainable energy efforts within the United States.