Slowing residential solar markets, higher prices for components and a push-back of project completions were the perfect storm in Q3, however the U.S. market managed to remain above 2 GW.Q3 was not the best quarter for the U.S. solar industry, and it could get worse before it gets better. According to the latest figures from GTM Research and Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) across the nation 2.03 GW of solar PV was installed, slightly below Q2 2016, which saw 2.05 GW.
There are no simple answers to why the industry saw this slump, and instead a variety of factors can be seen. A 51% year-over-year decline from Q3 2016 has more to do with the volume of projects initially planned for completion before the 30% Investment Tax Credit (ITC) was extended to 2020 than it does with the weakness this past quarter.
Straits Times, HDB launched a tender, which closed this month, in order to find a company that would own and operate solar panels in the ecotown of Punggol. Meanwhile, it has said that it will buy the electricity produced for 20 years. It is, however, unknown which company was successful.
This strategy is in opposition to its last solar project, continued the news report, where HDB bought the solar panels, and hired contractors to install and maintain them. HDB did not explain why it is trying out this model, but industry players offered a few reasons. "This is more experimental. The HDB is testing the mechanism," Christophe Inglin, managing director of Germany-based Phoenix Solar told the Straits Times.
He continued by saying that leasing can be attractive, because users may not want to deal with buying and maintaining the panels in the same way a tenant of a house may not need to fret over furniture.
The report explained that solar panels will be installed on 85 housing blocks. The generated electricity - expected to be around two megawatts when the sun is fully out - will be used towards powering, among other things, lights in common areas, and lifts and pumps.
The tender is part of HDB's $31 million, five-year scheme to test-bed solar energy in 30 precincts.
There are also solar testing program in Tampines, Bukit Panjang, Marine Parade, Serangoon North and Wellington Circle.
" data-medium-file="" data-large-file="" class="wp-image-14487 size-medium" src="https://pv-magazine-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/12/gtm_ussmi_us_pv_market_to_q4_2017-600x337.png" alt="" width="600" height="337" />U.S. quarterly PV installations to Q3 2017. Source: GTM Research / SEIA U.S. Solar Market Insight Q4 2017
A look by segments shows that residential solar continues to struggle. While this is the third quarter of year-over-year decline, residential installation volumes were also 10% lower than the previous quarter. GTM Research primarily cites national third-party solar companies scaling back in an effort to "prioritize profitability over growth". This can be amply seen in the quarterly results of Tesla and Vivint, the nation's ...Den vollständigen Artikel lesen ...