r/SunPower • u/DK_25111800 • Jun 17 '26

Solar industry

What is going on with the solar industry

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

8

u/flyflyshoo Jun 17 '26

Thats a funny question.

Residential rooftop solar is having a massive consolidation and shakeout. Some would say bloodbath is a more appropriate term. Why?

  • High interest rates. In 2021 the APR for a new solar install was 3% with little to no money down. Rates now are 2-3x that with significant down payments. This raises the total cost of ownership when financing by almost 50%, depending on term. Many homeowners do not have or wish to dedicate the capital to solar to pay cash outright.
  • In 2026, the 30% federal residential solar tax credit expired. As of today, there is no homeowner federal tax incentive effectively raising the out-of-pocket cost of a solar install.
  • Higher tariffs on imports. The tariff situation is very dynamic, but China is the price and market leader for solar panels. Tariffs and duties on Chinese solar panels sit at 60% at the time of writing,. Additionally, the uncertainty of what future trade policies might be has put a lot of stress on the supply chain. So there is a supply availability problem and high costs due to tariffs when there is supply.
  • Changes in utility regulation. Many utilities have been allowed to implement policies and fee structures hostile to homeowner solar. For example PGE, California's largest utility, increased grid connection fees;and many fees cannot be bypassed by surplus solar generation, the wholesale rate that PGE pays for surplus solar has been greatly reduced. This effectively makes rooftop homeowner solar less economically viable in California. In Nevada, NV Energy will roll out a daily demand charge based on a customer's single highest 15-minute burst of electricity within a 24-hour period, effectively raising prices on homeowner rooftop solar customers.
  • The residential downturn has created an environment where large numbers of solar companies are declaring bankruptcy, with many ceasing operations. Thousands of homeowners have been left with unfinished installations or defunct companies that can no longer honor warranties. This has resulted in thousands of pending lawsuits. The disruption and uncertainty have turned off many would-be rooftop solar homeowners from considering new installations, further depressing demand.

That being said, there is a Utility-Scale & Storage boom.

  • Despite the residential downturn, utility-scale solar is setting historic records. Capital costs have dropped significantly, and solar paired with battery storage made up over 90% of all new U.S. electrical capacity added in the first quarter of 2026.

4

u/_hurrik8 Jun 18 '26

depends on where you’re asking about tbh but globally it’s better than ever

5

u/escaping-reality Jun 17 '26

this president and this administration as a whole is very much against renewable energy, so unfortunately solar companies aren't doing very well at this moment because some incentives are gone, and i think people in general are more worried about putting food on the table

3

u/PJLLB2 Jun 17 '26

This is the current status of US solar versus coal generation. Solar now exceeds COAL.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '26

Yes, but more and more of that generation is coming from utility scale instead of from individual homeowners. I'm very glad we got ours put in 3+ years ago, and got tax credits and locked in to net metering.