A Recap of RE+ 2024
Industry leaders, policymakers and new innovators gathered for the 20th edition of the biggest solar energy event in North America. There were many highlights as the industry continues to surge to new heights, but also some concerns brought forward as we enter into new headway.
Here were some of the key talking points:
The Election
Whilst there's a 'stark policy contrast between the two presidential candidates', as noted by Jon Powers (President of Clean Capital), and panelists agreed this could result in some tax incentives being repurposed, there is a growing sense that the IRA would not be repealed if a Republican administration were to win the election.
The latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Q3 2024 report states that experts from the SEIA and Wood Mackenzie point to the IRA having boosted jobs and revenue too significantly, in both red and blue states, for a repeal to carry weight.
Corporate Demand for Community Solar
According to Aaron Halimi, founder of Renewable Properties in California, "There is insatiable demand. There is more demand from commercial and industrial (C&I) users than there are projects."
“The reason why large tech companies and data centres are participating in community solar is that they are seeing substantial delays in the large utility-scale projects that they have historically procured power from. And in some markets, they may not be able to procure wholesale power, so community solar is another means for them to green their energy portfolio and consumption.”
The Challenges of Increasing Demand
'We're entering a slower, more challenging, phase of growth" as noted by Michele Davis, Head of Global Solar at Wood Mackenzie.
We had a record 9.4 GW of solar installed in the US during Q2 of 2024 alone, largely driven by utility-scale installations. Following this, we are now facing the headwinds of interconnection backlogs and long lead times for electrical equipment, as the industry comes face-to-face with the issues in infrastructure which have been holding back the wider energy industry and manufacturing at large.
There's even a belief held by Justin Johnson, COO of Arevon, that interconnection constraints trump the new AD/CVD tariffs as the key obstacle to growth, noting that solar has always had to navigate geopolitics in some capacity.
A New Agreement for Data Centres
Chris Rauscher, Head of Grid Services at Sunrun, announced a proposal put forward to meet data centre demand growth driven by AI computing. Solar is uniquely placed to meet this surge in demand for energy, by providing a flexible, clean solution that can be installed and deployed rapidly.
The timespan is more a matter of months than years, relative to nuclear power, for example, so we can expect to see solar power provide an increasing share of power to data centres as they ramp up their own scale to power the oncoming surge in AI technology.
There's a growing sense of excitement about renewables entrenching themselves in the new economy.
Innovative Solutions and Partnerships
Manufacturers and solar providers showcased innovative partnerships aimed at addressing the demand for domestically produced components. Collaborations like those between OMCO and Heliene aim to streamline procurement processes and enhance the overall efficiency of solar projects.
This focus on domestic content was reinforced by the conference's discussions on compliance with the IRA's requirements.
Looking to the Future
Amidst uncertainty both domestic and geopolitical, the solar industry looks more powerful than ever, and is set to become a mainstay in the grid going forward.
The maturing of the industry is now placing it firmly in the discussion for powering the US, and its flexibility as a solution for data centres, which by their nature provide a flexible solution themselves, present new opportunities that we'll be sure to keep you abreast of.
