EcoWatch
Facebook 558k Twitter 222k Instagram 52k Subscribe Subscribe
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Conservation
  • Food + Agriculture
  • Renewables
  • Oceans
  • Policy
  • Insights + Opinion
  • Go Solar Today
      • Top Companies By State
        • California Solar Companies
        • Texas Solar Companies
        • New York Solar Companies
        • Florida Solar Companies
        • See All States
      • Top Incentives By State
        • California Solar Incentives
        • Texas Solar Incentives
        • New York Solar Incentives
        • Florida Solar Incentives
        • See All States
      • Solar Panel Costs By State
        • Solar Panel Costs in California
        • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
        • Solar Panel Costs in New York
        • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
        • See All States
      • Value of Solar by State
        • Is Solar Worth It In California?
        • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
        • Is Solar Worth It New York?
        • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
        • See All States
      • Company Reviews
        • Tesla Solar Review
        • Sunrun Solar Review
        • SunPower Solar Review
        • Vivint Solar Review
        • See All Companies
      • Common Solar Questions
        • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
        • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
        • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
        • Can You Finance Solar?
        • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
        • Payback On Solar Panels?
      • Solar Resources
        • Interactive Solar Calculator
        • Federal Solar Tax Credit
        • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
        • Tesla Solar Roof Review
        • Cheapest Solar Panels
      • Companies Compared
        • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
        • SunRun vs SunPower
        • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
        • SunPower vs ADT Solar
EcoWatch
  • Climate
  • Energy
  • Conservation
  • Food + Agriculture
  • Renewables
  • Oceans
  • Policy
  • Insights + Opinion
  • Go Solar Today
    • Go Solar Today
    • Top Companies By State
      • California Solar Companies
      • Texas Solar Companies
      • New York Solar Companies
      • Florida Solar Companies
      • See All States
    • Top Incentives By State
      • California Solar Incentives
      • Texas Solar Incentives
      • New York Solar Incentives
      • Florida Solar Incentives
      • See All States
    • Solar Panel Costs By State
      • Solar Panel Costs in California
      • Solar Panel Costs in Texas
      • Solar Panel Costs in New York
      • Solar Panel Costs in Florida
      • See All States
    • Value of Solar by State
      • Is Solar Worth It In California?
      • Is Solar Worth It in Texas?
      • Is Solar Worth It New York?
      • Is Solar Worth It In Florida?
      • See All States
    • Company Reviews
      • Tesla Solar Review
      • Sunrun Solar Review
      • SunPower Solar Review
      • Vivint Solar Review
      • See All Companies
    • Common Solar Questions
      • Can You Get Free Solar Panels?
      • Does Solar Increase Home Value?
      • What’re The Best Solar Batteries?
      • Can You Finance Solar?
      • Where To Buy Solar Panels?
      • Payback On Solar Panels?
    • Solar Resources
      • Interactive Solar Calculator
      • Federal Solar Tax Credit
      • Best Solar Panels For Most Homes
      • Tesla Solar Roof Review
      • Cheapest Solar Panels
    • Companies Compared
      • SunPower vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs Tesla Solar
      • SunRun vs SunPower
      • SunPower vs Momentum Solar
      • SunPower vs ADT Solar

The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 558k Twitter 222k Instagram 52k
    EcoWatch
    • About EcoWatch
    • Contact EcoWatch
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Learn About Solar Energy
    Facebook 558k Twitter 222k Instagram 52k
    Home Renewable Energy

    U.S. Home Solar Market Is Growing

    By: Olivia Rosane
    Published: October 24, 2022
    Edited by Irma Omerhodzic
    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon
    Solar Panel Housing
    The residential home solar market broke growth records for the fifth time in a row during the second quarter of 2022. Richard Newstead / Moment / Getty Images
    Why you can trust us

    Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.

    Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

    As conventional energy becomes more unstable, the idea of making your own with the help of the sun becomes more attractive, and this is reflected in the fact that the residential home solar market broke growth records for the fifth time in a row during the second quarter of 2022, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). 

    “While residential solar power currently generates just a fraction of the country’s overall electricity, it has continued to grow rapidly in recent years, despite COVID-19-related supply chain issues, import restrictions and other obstacles,” Rebecca Leppert and Brian Kennedy wrote in an October analysis for the Pew Research Center. 

    Leppert and Kennedy also pointed to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), which showed that home solar installations rose from 2.9 gigawatts in 2020 to 3.9 gigawatts in 2021, a 34 percent increase. This is reflective of an overall rise in U.S. solar, with both the number of solar panels shipped in the country and the amount of utility-scale capacity reaching records in 2021, according to the EIA. Shipped panels rose from 21.8 million peak kilowatts in 2020 to  28.8 million peak kilowatts in 2021, while utility-scale capacity rose from 10.6 gigawatts in 2020 to 13.2 gigawatts in 2021, a 25 percent jump. 

    As of December 2021, there were more than three million solar installations in the U.S. market, most of them residential photovoltaic (PV) panels, as PV Magazine reported at the time. 

    Residential SolarReviews noted in 2021 that requests for quotes for solar installation had gone up by 130 percent during that year. In a survey published in January, the Pew Research Center found that eight percent of U.S. homeowners have installed home solar panels, which is double the four percent with solar panels in 2016 and up from the six percent who had installed solar panels in 2019. A further 39 percent said they had seriously considered installing them in 2021, which was a seven-point decrease from 2019. 

    According to the survey, there are regional and political differences in who is installing solar panels, with people in Western states and Democratic voters more likely to have already installed or to be seriously considering installing solar panels. For people of all parties, saving money was the number one reason for installing or considering solar panels at 92 percent of respondents who either had or were considering panels. However, 81 percent of respondents said that climate concerns motivated them as well. A report co-published by SolarReviews and the University of California, Berkeley, in 2021 also found that the primary motivations for solar installation were bill savings followed by becoming more resilient to extreme weather events and reducing the household carbon footprint, PV Magazine reported. 

    The home installation of solar panels is still expensive, however, costing between $16,870 and $23,170 after the 30 percent solar tax credit included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  The SolarReviews report said that 72.5 percent of people who did not install solar panels said that the installation price was the main barrier, though this was before the IRA passed in August, according to PV Magazine. 

    Overall, the U.S. solar industry still has room to grow, representing just 4.5 percent of the nation’s energy, according to the SEIA. However, it represented 39 percent of new electricity capacity in the first half of 2022, and the IRA is set to boost the sector going forward. 

    “The Inflation Reduction Act has given the solar industry the most long-term certainty it has ever had,” Wood Mackenzie principal analyst Michelle Davis said in a statement published by SEIA. “Ten years of investment tax credits stands in stark contrast to the one-, two-, or five-year extensions that the industry has experienced in the last decade. It’s not an overstatement to say that the IRA will lead to a new era for the U.S. solar industry.”

    Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

      By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

      Olivia Rosane

      Olivia Rosane is an environmental journalist with a decade’s worth of experience. She has been contributing to EcoWatch since 2018 and has also covered environmental themes for Common Dreams, Atmos, Rewilding, Seattle Met, Treehugger, The Trouble, YES! Magazine and Real Life. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and a master’s in Art and Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London.
      Facebook icon Twitter icon Pinterest icon Email icon

      Read More

      Renewables Generated 43% of Electricity Used by Australia’s Main Power Grid in First Quarter of 2025
      Australia’s main power grid saw a substantial rise in renewable
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
      Democratic States Sue Trump for Blocking New Wind Energy Projects
      Democratic attorneys general from 17 states and the District of
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
      Trump’s Assault on Clean Energy Has Threatened or Destroyed More Than 62,000 U.S. Jobs: Report
      In President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, his
      By Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

      Subscribe to get exclusive updates in our daily newsletter!

        By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and to receive electronic communications from EcoWatch Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.

        Latest Articles

        • Global Warming Has Already Made Natural Habitats Unsurvivable for 2% of Amphibians: Study
          by Paige Bennett
          May 13, 2025
        • Nearly a Third of Antibiotics Used by Humans End Up in River Systems Globally Each Year: Study
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 13, 2025
        • Eating More Fiber Could Lower Levels of PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’: Study
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 12, 2025
        • Trump Administration Proposes Drastic Cuts to National Park Service
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 12, 2025
        • NOAA Will Stop Tracking Costs of Climate Crisis-Fueled Disasters in Wake of Trump Cuts
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 9, 2025
        • Living Near Golf Courses Linked to Higher Parkinson’s Disease Risk, Possibly From Pesticide Exposure
          by Paige Bennett
          May 9, 2025
        • Birds Form Long-Term Bonds With Non-Relatives Resembling Friendship: Study
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 9, 2025
        • World’s Most Diverse Savanna Dominated by Just 30 Tree Species: Study
          by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes
          May 8, 2025
        EcoWatch

        The best of EcoWatch right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

          • Climate Climate
          • Animals Animals
          • Health + Wellness Health + Wellness
          • Insights + Opinion Insights + Opinion
          • Adventure Adventure
          • Oceans Oceans
          • Business Business
          • Solar Solar
          • About EcoWatch
          • Contact EcoWatch
          • EcoWatch Reviews
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy Policy
          • Learn About Solar Energy
          • Learn About Deregulated Energy
          • EcoWatch UK
          Follow Us
          Facebook 558k
          Twitter 222k
          Instagram 52k
          Subscribe Subscribe

          Experts for a healthier planet and life.

          Mentioned by:
          Learn more
          • Privacy Policy
          • Terms of Use
          • Cookie Preferences
          • Do Not Sell My Information
          © 2025 EcoWatch. All Rights Reserved.

          Advertiser Disclosure

          Our editorial team is committed to creating independent and objective content focused on helping our readers make informed decisions. To help support these efforts we receive compensation from companies that advertise with us.

          The compensation we receive from these companies may impact how and where products appear on this site. This compensation does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides within our content. We do not include all companies, products or offers that may be available.