US solar panel shipments rose by 32% in 2021

The US Energy Information Administration’s latest report shows a steady climb in PV module shipments last year.

Image: EIA

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From pv magazine USA

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases an annual report on solar panel shipments, including imports and exports. This year’s report shows that in 2021, shipments of PV modules rose to a record capacity of 28.8 million peak kW in 2021, from 21.8 million peak kW in 2020.

The shipments represented an increase of 32%, despite module supply issues due to ongoing effect of the pandemic. This growth also occurred in the face of international trade issues, including the Hoshine Withhold Release Order (WRO), and antidumping and anti-circumvention tariff threats.

The United States added 13.2 GW of utility-scale solar capacity in 2021, an annual record and 25% more than the 10.6 GW added in 2020. Research from Princeton University and affiliates projects that these figures could reach 50 GW a year by 2024. By 2031, that number may reach as high as 100 GW of deployment per year.

Small-scale solar installations under 1 MW  increased by 5.4 GW in 2021, said the EIA. Residential installations surpassed 3.9 GW in 2021, from 2.9 GW in 2020.

The top five US states for solar panel shipments, representing 46% of the nation’s capacity:

  1. California (5.09 million peak kW)
  2. Texas (4.31 million peak kW)
  3. Florida (1.80 million peak kW)
  4. Georgia (1.15 million peak kW)
  5. Illinois (1.12 million peak kW)

In 2021, the United States recorded nearly 29 million module shipments. This number was only 320,000 when EIA began reporting it in 2006, and about 3.7 million in 2011.

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