California’s Solar Market Faces 75% Stock Drop and 40-80% Demand Decline Amid High Interest Rates and Policy Changes.

Residential solar has been hit hard by high interest rates and policy changes in California that have significantly impacted the value proposition for rooftop solar customers. Major publicly traded solar stocks have dropped over 75% over the past year, and demand in major markets like California has dropped by 40% to 80%. This has led to a 75% drop in demand for major publicly traded stocks and a 40-80% decrease in demand. In its Roundtables US 2023 live event, a panel of four distributed solar and energy storage experts discussed the market’s response to policy changes and shared their insights on California’s recent struggles. They also highlighted the potential lessons for other states, with Del Chiaro warning that the state’s failure to act as a model for solar success may not hold true. While residential solar is currently being hit by headwinds, there are some forces that could counterbalance this market retraction. Energy storage is expected to transform solar into a highly dispatchable energy source, with programs like battery aggregation and virtual power plants expected to improve captured value and grid benefits.