The U.S. residential solar market is uncertain. Its long-term potential is huge, exceeding current U.S. power generation capacity. However, recent policy changes threaten short-term growth.

Wood Mackenzie’s analysis, “Near-term challenges but long-term potential: evaluating the US residential solar addressable market,” shows how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) affects homeowners and solar developers. The main concern is the removal of the Section 25D Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for customer-owned systems starting in 2026.

The U.S. Residential Solar Stumbles in Tough Climate

According to the SEIA Q2 solar report, residential solar installations fell sharply in Q1 2025. Homeowners installed 1,106 MWdc of capacity. This is a 13% drop from Q1 2024 and 4% lower than Q4 2024.

High interest rates, economic uncertainty, and upcoming changes to federal tax credits are slowing demand. California remains the top solar state with 255 MWdc installed, but this is its weakest performance since Q3 2020.

More than 20 states saw installation declines. Puerto Rico and Florida follow California, but nationwide momentum has stalled.

OBBBA Shakes Up an Already Fragile Solar Policy

The OBBBA introduces significant policy uncertainty. The removal of the Section 25D credit has made solar less affordable for homeowners. While third-party-owned (TPO) systems can still qualify for credits under Section 48, they now face new restrictions like compliance with “foreign entity of concern” (FEOC) rules.

An executive order issued on July 7 adds to the confusion and may limit TPO system eligibility for incentives.

Additionally, the House passed a budget reconciliation bill on May 22. This bill could eliminate tax credits for both customer-owned and leased solar systems starting in 2026. Though it passed narrowly, it faces Senate negotiations, where amendments could change its impact.

• RELATED: Trump Ends Era of ‘Unreliable Green Energy’—Wind and Solar Subsidies Scrapped 

Sunny Horizon Yet Cloudy Now

Due to rising policy and economic challenges, the five-year outlook for residential solar has been cut by 9%. Installers report significant disruption, and consumer demand is softening amid uncertainty around tariffs and future tax incentives.

Despite these challenges, the market’s potential is enormous. By the end of 2024, only 7.5% of suitable U.S. homes had solar installed. Wood Mackenzie forecasts that, barring setbacks, the residential solar segment could grow 9% annually through 2030 and reach a 13% penetration rate.

However, these figures do not account for OBBBA’s full impacts. In a worst-case scenario, assuming the loss of all tax credits and high interest rates, adoption could drop 46% below baseline projections by 2030.

• READ MORE: US Solar Market Slows in 2025 – Here’s How SolarBank (NASDAQ: SUUN) Is Still Gaining Ground 

Can the Solar Market Recover Without Tax Credits?

Looking ahead, the key question is how solar companies will adapt without the Section 25D ITC. Many smaller players may not survive the transition, especially if TPO options become less viable.

Industry veterans expect surviving companies to change. Homeowners might find solar appealing due to lower system costs, new financing options, and rising electricity bills. Concerns about resilience and energy independence may also increase adoption.

Even in the most pessimistic forecast, the U.S. residential solar market is expected to rebound after 2028 and add at least 150 GWdc by 2050.

Looking Ahead to 2050: Residential Solar’s Next Frontier

The solar industry’s long-term outlook is promising. With electricity demand expected to rise and the push for energy independence growing, solar remains a top solution for decarbonizing the residential sector.

By 2050, solar will play a vital role in how Americans power their homes. While only 7.5% of suitable homes had solar by the end of 2024, that number could increase significantly if conditions align.

Key growth drivers toward 2050 include:

• Retail electricity rate hikes: Rising utility rates may lead more homeowners to adopt solar.

• Battery storage adoption: Pairing solar energy with affordable home batteries can help solve intermittency issues and unlock significant savings.

• State policy momentum: Even if federal support wanes, state-level incentives and renewable mandates could keep driving adoption.

• Technological advances: More efficient panels, easier installations, and longer warranties will boost solar’s appeal.

Business Models Will Evolve

If traditional customer-owned systems lose their tax advantages, solar companies may pivot to new business models. Community solar, subscription-based plans, and solar-as-a-service may gain traction. These models allow broader participation, especially among renters and low-income households.

Digital platforms that streamline financing, permitting, and installation could cut costs, making solar feasible even without generous tax credits.

1,494 GWdc: A Market Bigger Than the Grid

Despite current challenges, the long-term market size is impressive. Wood Mac says, by 2050, there will be about 92 million owner-occupied single-family homes in the U.S. Excluding homes with solar already and those not suitable for installation, around 70 million homes could still get solar upgrades.

If average system sizes continue to increase, this leads to a total addressable market (TAM) of roughly 1,494 GWdc, exceeding the current U.S. electricity generation fleet of around 1,300 GW.

Will Solar Reach Its Full Potential?

Wood Mackenzie’s “low case” scenario suggests only 12% of the total addressable market may be reached by 2050. However, this might be too cautious. Over the next 25 years, innovation, lower costs, and new business models could greatly increase market penetration.

Under favorable conditions, the market might reach a penetration of 30–40%. If the average system size grows as expected and costs drop below grid parity, growth could speed up.

In summary, the 1,494 GWdc TAM won’t be fully captured, but even partial adoption could add hundreds of gigawatts of clean capacity.

Overall, the long-term picture is compelling. With a TAM that exceeds the U.S. power generation fleet, the opportunity is immense. Even modest adoption could reshape the residential energy landscape by 2050.

The next few years will test the resilience and agility of solar companies. Those that survive will likely power a cleaner, more self-sufficient future for millions of American homes.

• READ MORE: Solar Surge and Wind Wins: 2024’s Renewable Energy Boom Breaks All Records 

The post U.S. Residential Solar in 2025: Market Slowdown Now, but 2050 Forecast is Massive appeared first on Carbon Credits.

Data centers are usually built with carbon-heavy materials like concrete and steel. However, cement and steel production together contribute to about 15% of global carbon emissions. That makes them key targets for climate action. To reduce this impact, Facebook owner Meta announced that it is turning to mass timber.

So what’s mass timber? It’s a strong, engineered wood that has a much lower carbon footprint. Unlike steel and concrete, mass timber stores carbon absorbed by trees during their growth.

From Steel to Timber: Meta’s Smart Shift in Construction Materials

Meta is rapidly expanding its global infrastructure. But with growth comes responsibility. The company has committed to reaching net zero emissions across its value chain by 2030. This includes Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 (emissions from suppliers, construction, travel, and product use).

To meet this goal, Meta is acting on all fronts. One major step is rethinking how it builds its data centers. Notably, this move is a major step toward targeting Scope 3 emissions tied to building construction and materials.

In 2023, its market-based net emissions were about 7.5 million metric tons of CO₂e, while location-based emissions stood at 14 million metric tons. However, the company has maintained net zero emissions in its global operations since 2020, cutting emissions by 94% from 2017 levels.

This year, Meta started using mass timber at its data center campuses. And the company’s first mass timber office building was completed in Aiken, South Carolina, with more projects underway in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Montgomery, Alabama.

Check out the video here:

• MUST READ: Meta and EFM Join Forces to Deliver 676,000 Forest Carbon Credits by 2035

Why Mass Timber Matters for the Planet

Mass timber offers multiple environmental and operational benefits. For example:

• It can cut embodied carbon by about 41% compared to traditional materials.
• Since timber products are prefabricated, construction times are shorter and on-site emissions are lower.
• The material’s lighter weight reduces the need for deep concrete foundations—further reducing carbon impact.

Moreover, this approach significantly reduces Scope 3 emissions from construction activities, while also supporting Scope 1 and 2 targets through smarter, cleaner infrastructure operations.

Strength, Safety, and Speed in One Material

Beyond its climate advantages, mass timber is strong and fire-resistant. Engineered to handle industrial use, it meets the safety standards required for large-scale buildings like data centers. Its high strength-to-weight ratio means it can even outperform steel in some applications.

Additionally, mass timber can be pre-insulated and customized for use in walls, roofs, and floors. When exposed indoors, it contributes to biophilic design, a building style that connects people with nature and boosts workplace morale and well-being.

Responsible Sourcing for a Greener Future

Meta is also focused on ensuring that the timber it uses is sustainably harvested. It requires third-party audits to verify that the wood is traceable back to responsibly managed forests. These audits ensure that forests are protected for long-term health and that timber operations uphold fair labor practices and community benefits.

In certain cases, reclaimed wood is used to avoid new harvesting altogether—helping further reduce Scope 3 emissions tied to raw material sourcing.

Partnering for Climate-Smart Forestry

In addition to using sustainable timber, Meta is investing in nature-based carbon removal projects that benefit both people and the planet.

For instance, the company partnered with BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group in Brazil to support a major reforestation effort. This long-term agreement will deliver up to 3.9 million carbon removal credits through 2038—helping offset residual emissions that cannot be eliminated, particularly in Scope 3.

These credits come from a $1 billion Latin America forestry strategy, guided by Conservation International to ensure biodiversity and social equity.

Besides using low-carbon building materials, Meta is embedding circularity into its data center hardware lifecycle, further cutting Scope 1 and Scope 3 emissions.

A key example is Meta’s use of lithium-ion battery backup units (BBUs), which replaced older lead-acid versions starting in 2014. These new batteries last longer, take up less space, and are easier to monitor and reuse.

By tracking battery health, the tech giant determines which units are suitable for reuse—even after hardware decommissioning. Currently, about 95% of BBUs are eligible for reuse, and this is expected to climb to 98% as diagnostics improve. Unused components are recycled responsibly, keeping valuable materials in circulation and reducing demand for virgin resources.

Additionally, the company is working with the iMasons Climate Accord (iCA) and the Open Compute Project (OCP) to tackle the issue of embodied carbon in data centers. The goal is to create a standard, transparent way to measure and report the carbon emissions tied to building and running data centers.

This new framework will help operators understand their carbon footprint better and make smarter choices to cut their environmental impact.

Scaling Up: Timber Pilots Show the Way

While building with mass timber has clear benefits, scaling it across the data center industry remains a challenge. However, the company’s pilot projects serve as real-world models for how to do it successfully.

As Meta continues to grow, it is committed to scaling low-carbon building strategies to tackle emissions in all three scopes.

As said before, the emissions generated from making and transporting steel and concrete are far higher than those from mass timber. By choosing bio-based, sustainable materials, Meta shows how tech companies can build smarter, cleaner, and more climate-resilient digital futures.

• ALSO CHECK: Facebook Owner Meta Stock Surges After Beating Q2 Forecasts and Sustainability Milestone Progress

The post From Steel to Mass Timber: Meta’s Low-Carbon Data Center Makeover appeared first on Carbon Credits.

Amazon reported strong second-quarter results for 2025, exceeding Wall Street expectations on both revenue and earnings. However, a lighter-than-expected guidance for the upcoming quarter and lukewarm growth in its cloud business triggered a sharp stock decline.

Investors, while impressed with the current numbers, are showing concern over the company’s forward momentum, especially in light of increasing competition in the AI-driven cloud space. On the other hand, if we take a peek into its sustainability goals, the retail giants’ emissions are still challenging.

Let’s study the revenue growth and the net-zero plans in the content below:

Despite this strong showing. The market now values the company at approximately $2.44 trillion.

AWS Struggles to Keep Pace in AI Race

Amazon Web Services (AWS), long the crown jewel of Amazon’s business, grew 17% to $30 billion in revenue. While that’s still solid, it fell just short of expectations ($30.78 billion) and didn’t match the high momentum shown by Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

AMZN Stock Slides but Analysts Still See Upside

Reuters reported that investors are holding Amazon to a higher standard, especially as Microsoft and Google have both shown clear AI-driven revenue jumps in their cloud platforms. While Amazon is also investing heavily in AI, the returns haven’t yet wowed investors.

So far in 2025, Amazon’s stock had gained around 7% leading up to the earnings announcement. But after the company issued weaker-than-expected guidance, some investors pulled back, causing the stock to dip in after-hours trading.

Even so, market sentiment remains mostly positive. Analysts are still confident in the company’s long-term growth and expect the AMZN stock to recover soon. Many have set short-term price targets between $234 and $238 by the end of August 2025.

Meanwhile, full-year 2025 consensus estimates project earnings per share (EPS) of around $6.29. This signals faith in the company’s fundamentals despite short-term uncertainty.

Future Guidance Adds to Market Jitters

Amazon’s Q3 2025 guidance suggests net sales between $174 billion and $179.5 billion, a projected 10% to 13% increase over Q3 2024. The company also forecasts operating income of $15.5 billion to $20.5 billion, compared with $17.4 billion a year earlier.

Though these are healthy figures, they indicate slowing growth and rising spending. Capital expenditure for 2025 is now expected to exceed $118 billion—well above rivals—fueling concerns over shrinking margins.

Amazon’s Emissions Still a Big Challenge

Amazon says it’s working to cut its carbon footprint. The company has reduced its Scope 1 and 2 emissions slightly by utilizing more renewable energy and improving the efficiency of its buildings. These emissions come from its operations and the electricity it buys.

But Scope 3 emissions—which come from suppliers, product shipping, and customer use—are still going up. These emissions make up over 75% of the company’s total carbon output. As the company builds additional data centers and expands its cloud and AI services, these indirect emissions may increase further.

Amazon has promised to reach net-zero carbon by 2040. Still, some experts say the company needs to share more details about these indirect emissions and do more to cut them across its supply chain.

Electrifying Delivery Fleet

Amazon has aggressively ramped up its electric delivery vehicles (EVs).

• As of mid-2025, the company has delivered 1.5 billion packages using over 31,400 EVs.
• It also built the largest private charging network in the U.S. with 11,770 chargers across 50 delivery stations.
• In Europe, it is adding over 200 Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 electric trucks, expected to carry around 338 million packages annually.

Renewable Energy Milestone Reached Early

Amazon pledged to power all its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025, but achieved this target two years early in 2023. Today, it matches 100% of its global electricity usage with renewables, primarily through wind and solar projects.

READ MORE: 

• Amazon Leads Corporate Clean Energy Contracts, Hitting Record High at 100GW
• Amazon to Power AI Data Center Expansion with 1,920 MW Nuclear PPA from Talen Energy
• Amazon Expands Renewable Energy with 17 New Projects in Spain & First in Portugal

Cleaner Fuels and Smarter Shipping

In 2024, the company scaled up its use of cleaner fuels. It used 4.7 million gallons of renewable diesel, compared to just 286,300 gallons the year before. It also bought 3.7 million gallons of blended sustainable aviation fuel to cut emissions from air transport.

It also improved delivery routes. By offering customers smarter shipping options, it saved over 452 million delivery trips and reduced the use of more than 494 million boxes. These changes helped avoid an estimated 335,000 metric tons of carbon emissions in 2024 alone.

• RELATED: Amazon Flies Greener to Net Zero with 9M Liters of Sustainable Fuel from Neste

Making Packaging and Logistics Greener

Amazon is cutting emissions by bringing fulfillment centers closer to customers, reducing delivery distances and fuel use. It uses more rail transport instead of trucks to lower emissions.

In cities, it relies on on-foot deliveries and electric cargo bikes for short trips as well. This cuts pollution and eases traffic. The company also invests in lighter, recyclable packaging, aiming to have half of its shipments be net-zero carbon by 2030.

Expanding Carbon Removal Projects

While Amazon is cutting emissions through renewable energy and electrification, it’s also backing large-scale carbon removal efforts. These initiatives are vital for tackling the emissions that cannot be completely avoided.

It is investing heavily in nature-based solutions like reforestation, wetland restoration, and soil carbon capture. The company partners with trusted environmental organizations and developers to ensure these projects meet strict environmental and scientific standards.

Additionally, Amazon also funds early-stage technologies focused on direct air capture (DAC) and ocean-based carbon removal. These advanced methods pull CO₂ directly from the air or water and lock it away permanently. The company views these long-term technologies as crucial to scaling carbon removal in the decades ahead.

By building out a global portfolio of carbon removal projects, Amazon is not only addressing its own footprint but also helping grow the carbon market and drive down the cost of climate solutions.

Amazon’s Game-Changing Carbon Credit Platform

Amazon launched a carbon credit platform through its Sustainability Exchange to help suppliers and partners reach their net-zero goals. This new service gives qualified companies access to high-quality carbon credits. These credits come from real projects that either remove CO₂ from the air or prevent its release.

Unlike many carbon marketplaces, Amazon’s platform is selective. It only allows companies that set net-zero targets, measure and report emissions, and commit to cutting carbon in line with climate science.

Driving Real Change Beyond Offsetting

This platform goes beyond simple offsetting. It aims to enable real decarbonization across Amazon’s entire value chain. By offering vetted credits to customers, suppliers, and Climate Pledge members, Amazon unlocks new private funding for effective climate projects.

Over time, this platform could make Amazon a leader in corporate carbon management—not just logistics or cloud services. Plus, it encourages collaboration by providing educational tools, playbooks, and a space for companies to share best practices. This broad approach could speed up the decarbonization of many industries.

As Amazon navigates the twin challenges of AI-driven cloud competition and rising operating costs, its environmental leadership and aggressive long-term planning offer strong fundamentals for future growth.

• READ MORE: Amazon Unveils Carbon Credit Investment Service: A Game Changer for Corporate Sustainability

The post Amazon (AMZN) Stock Dips Despite Q2 2025 Beat: Cloud Growth Slows, Net-Zero Push Expands appeared first on Carbon Credits.