Solar Energy in the United States: Development, Challenges and Future Prospects

• Published in: Energies (Basel) 2021-12, Vol.14 (23), p.8142
• Main Authors: Tabassum, Sanzana, Rahman, Tanvin, Islam, Ashraf Ul, Rahman, Sumayya, Dipta, Debopriya Roy, Roy, Shidhartho, Mohammad, Naeem, Nawar, Nafiu, Hossain, Eklas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 20th century; Alternative energy sources; challenges; Commercialization; Efficiency; Electricity generation; Energy; Energy sources; Feasibility studies; Fossil fuels; future prospects; Hydroelectric power; Photovoltaic cells; photovoltaic vs. concentrated solar power; Photovoltaics; Power plants; Regression analysis; Renewable energy sources; Renewable resources; Solar energy; Solar heating; Solar power; Statistical analysis; United States
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en14238142

The ambitious target of net-zero emission by 2050 has been aggressively driving the renewable energy sector in many countries. Leading the race of renewable energy sources is solar energy, the fastest growing energy source at present. The solar industry has witnessed more growth in the last decade than it has in the past 40 years, owing to its technological advancements, plummeting costs, and lucrative incentives. The United States is one of the largest producers of solar power in the world and has been a pioneer in solar adoption, with major projects across different technologies, mainly photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, and solar heating and cooling, but is expanding towards floating PV, solar combined with storage, and hybrid power plants. Although the United States has tremendous potential for exploiting solar resources, there is a scarcity of research that details the U.S. solar energy scenario. This paper provides a comprehensive review of solar energy in the U.S., highlighting the drivers of the solar industry in terms of technology, financial incentives, and strategies to overcome challenges. It also discusses the prospects of the future solar market based on extensive background research and the latest statistics. In addition, the paper categorizes the U.S. states into five tiers based on their solar prospects calculated using analytical hierarchy process and regression analysis. The price of solar technologies in the U.S. is also predicted up to 2031 using Wright’s law, which projected a 77% reduction in the next decade.