Solar Energy Creates Several Challenges Towards United States Clean Energy Transition

By Shubhendra Anand , 16 September, 2024

The transition to clean energy in developed countries is gaining momentum with various ideas and newly built infrastructures. In the United States, the clean energy transition is progressing day by day at a certain pace in 2024. However, the market scenario shows that solar energy affects the United States energy grid.

The rapid growth of solar energy impacts the us grid system in the energy sector. According to previous results, solar and wind energy are ahead of other renewable sources by 30 and 15 percent in 2023. However, solar energy's growth is more significant than wind's in 2023. This is due to the record-breaking number of solar installations in the United States. With growing renewables energy growth, solar installations increased by 43 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. The solar industry in the United States faces many challenges. Solar power challenges affect the effective transmission and distribution of power in the United States. Hence, top solar power-producing states are struggling with the power grid and utilities in 2024. According to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), solar and battery storage together are responsible for 81 percent of the electricity generation in the United States in 2024. However, the energy sector finds solar energy interrupting the United States' energy grid.

The surge in solar installations in the United States will cause a hindrance in power distribution in 2024. Therefore, the energy sector in the United States is adopting various methods to solve this issue. The solutions to face the challenges of the energy sector in the United States are grid modernization, sustainable land use practices, and others. Grid modernization is the most adopted technique. Grid modernization helps to set up smart grids that forecast weather, manage solar variability, handle grid operations, and predict real-time monitoring of solar output, among others. Simultaneously, sustainable land uses include agrivoltaics and the integration of solar panels in agricultural lands, allowing double farming. Hence, dual use of land with this method is environmentally friendly. Experts suggest that battery storage reduces these challenges caused by solar energy. It is another method to incorporate clean energy methods in the energy sector. However, the battery needs to improve more efficiently to overcome solar energy.

                        Number of Solar Installation in the United States