The photo voltaic business is bracing for a turbulent yr, and SolarReviews’ newly launched 2025 Photo voltaic Business Survey lays out precisely why. The survey, now in its third yr, gathered insights from photo voltaic firms throughout the business between December 2, 2024, and January 3, 2025, protecting every little thing from the Inflation Discount Act to workforce improvement and the state of the availability chain.
Ben Zientara, business and coverage analyst at SolarReviews, summed up the findings: “With pandemic-related provide chain points largely within the rearview mirror, the business is now overwhelmingly involved about political uncertainty and the potential for brand spanking new tariffs and modifications to photo voltaic incentives.”
The most important takeaway – the photo voltaic business is on edge about what’s coming in 2025. Greater than half (56%) of firms flagged the potential for new tariffs as a serious concern, whereas 50% are apprehensive about modifications to photo voltaic incentives. Legislative and political uncertainty isn’t serving to both, with 46% of respondents citing it as one among their greatest fears. Contemplating that Trump’s declaration of a nationwide power emergency excluded photo voltaic from its definition of power assets, that’s unsurprising.
The end result of the 2024 US elections has additionally influenced enterprise confidence. A 3rd (34%) of respondents mentioned their outlook for 2025 grew to become extra destructive as a consequence of election outcomes, whereas almost half (48%) reported no change. Solely 18% mentioned they felt extra optimistic about their enterprise prospects after the elections.
Regardless of these worries, most photo voltaic firms stay resilient. Simply 7% of respondents mentioned they had been involved about staying in enterprise over the following six months, whereas 38% count on to see their enterprise develop this yr.
One vivid spot is the availability chain. Over the previous two years, provide chain disruptions have steadily improved, with 43% of companies reporting that situations had been higher in 2024 in comparison with 2023. That’s a slight dip from the earlier yr when 69% of firms noticed an enchancment, however nonetheless a optimistic signal. Solely 11% mentioned provide chain points worsened year-over-year.
Residential photo voltaic installers proceed to evolve, increasing their providers past photo voltaic panels. The overwhelming majority (92%) of installers now supply power storage set up, up from 74% final yr. Equally, 86% of firms are putting in EV chargers, up from 64% within the earlier yr.
Installers named Qcells, REC, and Silfab as their go-to photo voltaic module manufacturers, whereas Enphase, Tesla, and SolarEdge dominated the power cupboard space.
Nevertheless, one of many greatest challenges in 2024 was the wave of photo voltaic firm closures. A staggering 81% of installers reported that at the least one giant competitor of their service space shut down. Greater than 57% mentioned these closures led to destructive outcomes, together with a rise in service calls from clients left within the lurch by their former photo voltaic suppliers. To adapt, almost 1 / 4 of residential installers now supply third-party guarantee protection as a approach to increase buyer confidence and safe extra gross sales.
Finally, US photo voltaic remains to be anticipated to proceed its progress trajectory and keep its prime management amongst power sources.
Learn extra: Renewables generated 24.2% of US electrical energy in 2024 – EIA knowledge
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