The Future of Residential Solar

1. Electricity Prices Are Going Up Faster Than Inflation

Utilities across the country are raising rates due to aging infrastructure, grid upgrades, storm hardening, and rapidly growing electricity demand from AI data centers, electric vehicles, and electrification of homes. The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects electricity demand to reach new record highs in 2026 and 2027.

For homeowners, every utility rate increase makes solar more valuable because solar locks in a portion of their energy costs for decades.

2. Batteries Are Becoming Mainstream

For years, solar's biggest weakness was that it only produced power during the day. Battery storage changes everything.

Battery installations are growing at record rates, with U.S. battery capacity projected to increase more than 50% in the near term. Costs continue to decline while performance improves.

A homeowner with solar, batteries, and an EV will increasingly function as their own micro-utility.

3. Hurricane and Grid Reliability Concerns

In states like Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and the Carolinas, homeowners are becoming less concerned with saving money and more concerned with keeping the lights on.

When paired with bidirectional EV charging, many homes will be able to use their vehicle as a backup power source.

4. Solar Equipment Keeps Improving

The solar panel on a roof in 2036 will be dramatically better than the panel installed in 2016.

Meanwhile, manufacturing capacity continues to expand and solar remains the fastest-growing source of new electricity generation in America.

5. Electric Vehicles Will Drive Solar Adoption

The average EV adds thousands of kilowatt-hours of annual electricity consumption to a household.

Solar becomes much more compelling than simply reducing an electric bill.

6. The Grid Needs Distributed Power

Utilities are struggling to keep up with demand growth.

Rather than every homeowner being only a consumer of electricity, millions will become producers and storage providers.

7. Solar and Storage Are Dominating New Energy Growth

According to EIA forecasts, solar, wind, and battery storage are expected to account for virtually all net new generating capacity added in the United States, with some forecasts putting the figure near 99% for 2026.

That means the entire energy industry is increasingly being built around renewable generation and storage.

8. Homeowners Are Thinking Beyond ROI

Ten years ago the conversation was:

"How much will I save?"

Today the conversation is becoming:

"How do I protect my family from outages?" "How do I protect myself from utility rate increases?" "How do I power my EV?" "How do I increase the value of my home?"

Solar is evolving from an energy product into a home improvement and resilience product.

What Residential Solar Will Look Like in 2036

The homeowner will generate, store, consume, and manage their own electricity.