Manya Rathore
Research expert covering India
Residential solar market in the U.S. - statistics & facts
Solar is becoming an increasingly important energy resource in the United States. In the last decade, solar has grown with an average annual rate of 26 percent, reaching a capacity of over 138 gigawatts in 2023. In that same year, solar energy accounted for 55 percent of new electricity-generating capacity additions in the North American country. Of the total solar capacity installed in the U.S., over 26 percent corresponds to residential installations. This segment has grown in recent years, reaching some 4.7 million installations in 2023. Increasing household electricity bills are a large motivator for the installation of residential solar systems. Furthermore, the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August 2022, modified and extended clean energy investment tax credits, with households able to save up to 30 percent in their solar installation until 2032.
Home solar market in the U.S.
The market experienced a record year in 2023, with roughly 6.8 gigawatts of residential solar power installed across the United States. California remained the leader in the generation of home solar energy, producing more than 19.1 terawatt hours of electricity in 2023. Since 2020, California has required the installation of a photovoltaic system sufficient to cover yearly electricity usage in all newly constructed homes, which is an important market driver. However, the recent introduction of new net metering rules that reduce the value of excess electricity fed into the grid has hindered the growth of residential solar in the sunny state. Texas, Florida, and Arizona are other states with an important solar PV market. The three states had a cumulative solar residential capacity over two gigawatts as of the end of 2023.U.S. residential solar companies
There is a large number of residential solar companies that plan, provide, install, and connect solar panels in homes across the U.S. Most of them also offer financing options to customers. In fact, approximately 27 percent of the home photovoltaic systems installed in 2023 were owned by third parties, although this share has been on a decreasing trend. Some of the leading U.S. residential solar companies include Sunrun, Freedom Forever, Sunpower, Titan Solar Power, and Tesla Energy . Sunrun held a share of 11 percent of the market in 2023 and generated a revenue of approximately 2.3 billion U.S. dollars. Tesla’s energy and storage segment, which focuses primarily on the installation of residential solar generation systems and energy storage products, reached more than six billion U.S. dollars in revenue that year.
