The U.S. solar industry suffered its worst quarter in two years in terms of deployments as global supply challenges slowed growth, project delays and prices climbed.

U.S. utility-scale solar installed just under 1.9 GW in the third quarter of 2022, with the industry experiencing its slowest quarter since July-September 2020. This year has been considered a landmark year for the solar industry, but global supply challenges have hampered growth, delayed projects and pushed up prices.

The U.S. could deploy 550 GW of renewable energy by 2030, the American Clean Energy Council (ACP) said in its quarterly report. Solar is expected to lead the energy transition this decade, accounting for 59% of the renewable energy projects to be built. In the process, the U.S. is expected to reduce overall economy emissions by 40 percent from 2005 levels. The ACP says this progress will be achieved through a clean energy workforce of 1 million.

Despite the slow growth this quarter, 2022 is still the second-highest year for solar deployments, after 2021. Quarterly installs were down 23% from the same period a year earlier. The slowdown is likely to persist for some time as solar module supply issues remain, and the U.S. struggles to inject Inflation Cuts Act funds into new domestic manufacturing supply chains.

By 2022, the total installed solar capacity will exceed 7 GW. This brings total utility-scale solar operating capacity to 68 GW.