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Market outlook
Growth expectations are nearly universal.
99%expect their regional market to grow over the next two years
91%reported a growing pipeline over the past year
PVcase Industry Report 2026–2027
The State of Solar Project Development
Solar’s next opportunity is turning record confidence into more successful projects. Explore insights from 405 professionals across the United States, Germany, Spain, and Italy on the risks, technologies, and workflows shaping solar development in 2026–2027.
The state of solar at a glance
Why do projects fail?
The causes of failure remain concentrated where they were last year: in money and in permission. But the ranking beneath the top two has moved meaningfully.
Four solar markets
Financing challenges
74%
Changing regulations
70%
Stakeholder management
63%
Price volatility
60%
Community opposition
57%
Grid interconnection
55%
Supply chain
54%
Worker shortage
53%
Complex projects
48%
Data management
44%
Financing challenges
86%
say interest rates are a factor in project failure
vs 88% in 2025
Solar is growing. So is project attrition
Nine in ten professionals report growing pipelines in the past 12 months, and virtually everyone expects further market growth. Yet 46% say at least half of the projects they work on never reach construction.
Explore by chapter
Successful solar project development checklist
Establish a single source of truth
The absence of a single source of truth is the industry’s #1 workflow bottleneck (67%), while 90% prioritize secure, automated data handoffs. Connect project information across development and engineering, so teams work from consistent data throughout the project lifecycle.
1Prioritize early-stage due diligence
With 46% of professionals reporting that at least hal f of their projects never reach construction, identifying risk earlier is critical. Screen land, permitting, interconnection, environmental, and financial constraints before committing significant engineering resources.
2Design for change
Design rework fell to 45%, yet project attrition rose to 46%. Build workflows that can quickly adapt to changing setbacks, capacity limits, grid requirements, and other constraints without restarting the design process.
3Integrate PV and BESS from the outset
Storage is now part of mainstream solar development , with 82% of companies having at least 10% of their pipeline in BESS. Connect PV design, battery sizing, grid constraints, and performance considerations early rather than addressing them sequentially.
4Eliminate costly errors with solar project development software
95% of professionals identify high-quality engineering as the most important factor in project success. Purpose - built solar software can help reduce manual errors, improve data consistency, and maintain design quality throughout development.
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The Story Continues
Download the full 2026–2027 industry report
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