9 Things Impacting Utility-Scale Solar in 2026 — and How EPCs and Developers Can Prepare for Them

Key Takeaways from GameChange Solar’s SolarConnections 2025

“Solar became cost-effective faster than anyone expected. The challenge now isn’t cost — it’s how fast we can build and integrate at the scale that’s coming.”

- Andrew Worden, Executive Chairman & Founder, GameChange Solar

The age of AI, data centers, extreme weather, and policy uncertainty is colliding with an aging grid.

So at our 2025 Global Solar Connections event in New York City, developers, investors, operators, policymakers, and engineers answered the hard questions about scaling and speeding electrification:

• How do we build fast enough?

• What tradeoffs are unavoidable going forward?

• What actually works in the real world?

  
  

We’ve sifted through the 8+ hours of impactful discussions to give you a recap of the conversations shaping solar in 2026 and beyond:

Solar costs have plummeted in the past decade, making it one of the most cost-effective forms of power generation around the world. Now the industry’s challenge is scale, integration, and delivery – in particular, meeting the explosive electricity demand driven by widespread generative AI adoption.

Main takeaways

• Policymakers listen most to approaches that emphasize:

• Energy adequacy, especially in regions with significant data center presence (such as Washington D.C. and Chicago)

• Reliability

• Economic competitiveness

• Massive load growth from AI and electrification has cemented an “all-of-the-above” approach, including solar, wind, nuclear, renewable natural gas, and storage.

• Projects have become larger and more complex: GW instead of MW, sites with uneven terrain and volatile climates as flat, “ideal” land becomes scarcer.

The solution lies in building solid, long-term relationships among stakeholders with varying goals. For instance, policymakers and utilities remain concerned about meeting their regions’ growing energy demands, regardless of politics; solar is one of the fastest ways to get more power online.

To get this power online faster, owners, EPCs, developers, and utilities need clear communication and rapport to resolve the complications of building bigger projects on more challenging sites. Throughout a project’s lifecycle, thoughtful communication between all parties is more essential than ever.

“Speed to execution matters more than ever. Capital is available, but it’s flowing to projects that are truly ready to build,” concluded Claudia Morrow, SVP of Development at Vistra Corp in Solar Connections’ panel, “Financing Projects in the U.S. Post ITC”.

“Time to power is everything. Interconnection timelines are getting longer, and unless you’re very late-stage with grid or firm gas figured out, financing just won’t touch the project.”

- Todd Coffin, Senior Managing Director, TerraNova Capital, at SolarConnections

For developers and EPCs, the core challenge of 2026 will be addressing the convergence of utility-scale generation, battery storage, data centers, and emerging technologies, such as SMRs. With projections showing demand far outpacing interconnection capacity by 2030, the industry is being forced to rethink how projects are sited, sequenced, and financed — often simultaneously.

Solar Connections’ “Hyperscale Data Centers & AI” session addressed how, as a result of hyperscale demand and the ensuing extreme urgency around time to power, technological readiness is no longer the biggest constraint on new builds. Now, it’s interconnection timelines.

This has also made “powered land,” which contains existing infrastructure and needs less time and labor to be interconnected, a premium asset class.

Main takeaways

• Hyperscalers prioritize sites with:

  • Advanced or completed interconnection studies

  • Firm access to power (grid, gas, or hybrid)

  • Fiber connectivity

  • Viable cooling solutions, often in water-constrained regions

• Financing is difficult for early-stage projects without clear power pathways or hyperscaler alignment.

  
  

  The panelists recommended prioritizing late-stage, interconnection-advanced sites, even if they require hybrid or interim generation solutions.

“The fundamentals of the project still have to work on their own,” pointed out Philippe Pontbriand, Head of Project Development at Ørsted. “Hyperscalers enable value, but developers can’t build projects that only work if the hype materializes.”

“Hyperscalers don’t actually know yet how much power they’ll use long-term. Load profiles change depending on whether they’re training models or running inference.”

- Stephen Clevett, VP of Corporate Development for NACCO Natural Resources, at GameChange Solar Connections

While the opportunity to build energy projects for data centers is massive, it also comes with heightened execution risks for developers.

Main takeaways

• Many hyperscalers don’t yet know their ultimate load profiles or capacity factors.

• Hyperscale loads can fluctuate dramatically, depending on whether facilities are training AI models or running inference.

• Fully off-grid data centers are technically possible but significantly more expensive, making hybrid or transitional approaches more likely.

For hyperscale projects, cooling, water access, fiber, and controls are now as critical as megawatts. EPCs, engineering firms, and developers can help manage these risks by designing such projects with flexible generation and BESS architecture that can adapt to shifting, unpredictable loads.

“You can’t assume the grid will be there when you need it. Projects that can operate with some level of independence are much easier to finance and move forward.”

-  Nicholas Minekime, Founder & CEO, Sunrise Mountain Partners, at SolarConnections

Fortunately for the solar industry, renewables aren’t just the most sustainable and cost-effective form of energy available today. They’re also the fastest to bring online.

In markets like ERCOT, data center demand is reshaping previously challenged regions, creating new value where curtailment once dominated. Panelists at Solar Connections listed the constraints slowing deployment in such regions:

• Interconnection queues stretching 5-8 years

• Gas turbine supply chains that atrophied over the last decade

• Water usage and cooling requirements for data centers rival power demand itself

Off-grid and behind-the-meter solutions are no longer fringe strategies, but necessary bridges as utilities struggle to keep pace.

Main takeaways

• Utility-scale solar remains the fastest deployable generation resource available to support large new loads.

• Existing renewable assets that once faced curtailment or basis risk are being revalued as direct-load opportunities.

• Pairing solar with load can:

  • Reduce curtailment exposure

  • Improve project economics

  • Increase the value and flexibility of contracted offtake structures

  • Unlock stranded or underutilized assets

Speakers recommended that EPCs and developers reassess previously marginal or “stranded” solar projects as potential direct-load or hybrid solutions, especially in high-curtailment markets.

“We’re seeing more projects structured to manage congestion and interconnection risk directly, rather than waiting for system-wide upgrades that may take years,” shared Patrick Verdonck, Founder at Verdonck Partners.

Independent analysts presented a data-driven outlook grounded in satellite imagery, permitting data, and EPC activity. The data suggests that AI-driven demand is likely to experience boom–bust cycles, similar to past EV charging and early solar waves.

Main Takeaways

• Based on observable site construction activity, 2026 is expected to be a record year for solar interconnections.

• Forecast load growth far exceeds current grid interconnection capacity, encouraging

• “Bring Your Own Capacity” solar strategies and behind-the-meter solutions.

• However, capital markets are already applying more scrutiny to AI infrastructure financing.

• Longer-term application volumes suggest a potential post-2027 lag, unless new projects enter the pipeline at scale.

Despite near-term volatility, speakers consistently categorized AI load growth as structural over the long term. Their advice to solar developers and EPCs:

• Expect more projects that resemble microgrids or small municipalities.

• Assume peak labor and equipment demand when capacity planning.

• Avoid over-concentration in a single off-taker, market, or demand assumption; build projects resilient to capital tightening or demand pauses.

“If 2026 plays out the way the data suggests, the industry will need 30 to 50 additional EPC crews in a very short time frame.”

-  Daniel Cruise, Partner, Lium Research, at SolarConnections

Although utility-scale solar is the fastest to deploy, especially with significant volumes of safe-harbored equipment and permitted projects already physically underway, it still struggles to keep up with AI-driven demand.

At SolarConnections’ Fireside Chat, “Utility Scale Solar Outlook for 2026 and Beyond”, Daniel Cruise from Lium Research and Philip Shen from Roth Capital Partners explored the impact of constraints on utility-scale development, especially labor shortages, long lead times, and policy changes:

Main Takeaways

• Dozens of additional EPC crews will be needed to meet projected build volumes

• Long lead times remain unresolved for transformers, breakers, and other essential equipment

• New policies could impact financing and tax equity

The speakers advised developers to lock in labor pipelines and long-lead procurement strategies earlier than historical norms.

“Long lead times for transformers, breakers, and equipment remain one of the biggest bottlenecks across the industry,” concluded Philip Shen, Managing Director and Sr. Research Analyst for Roth Capital Partners.

“Lead times are still the biggest challenge,” agreed Michael Foster, VP of Supply Chain at Linea Energy. “Even when pricing improves, availability and delivery schedules are what determine whether projects actually move.”

“Policy won’t save the industry — but bad policy can absolutely slow it down.”

-  Sean Gallagher, Senior Vice President of Policy, SEIA, at GameChange Solar Connections

At SolarConnections’ Fireside Chat, “The Future of Solar in the U.S.”, policy leaders from SEIA and BakerHostetler unpacked the recent twists and turns of the solar (policy) coaster. It’s been quite a journey, from long-lasting tax credits and milestone funding to today’s race to safe-harbor projects before the looming ITC deadline.

Main Takeaways

• Permitting constraints, particularly on federal land, are a material risk for many projects.

• Although headline legislation gets most of the attention, incremental behind-the-scenes progress creates more long-term impact.

• Safe-harbored equipment volumes are larger than near-term build capacity – meaning that not all safe-harbored projects will be built.

• In fact, developers have already started to re-trade and resell equipment.

  
  

  Panelists’ advice for developers and EPCs:

  
  

• Plan for equipment redeployment scenarios; don’t assume that all safe-harbor assets will reach COD.

• Continued, long-term engagement with local & national policymakers is essential to prevent backsliding.

• When engaging with policymakers, focus on permitting reform, which is now the top bipartisan priority.

“Permitting reform is where there’s real bipartisan pressure right now,” shared Peter Roskam, Partner & Federal Policy Leader at BakerHostetler. “More so than sweeping new incentives, incremental changes will likely have a bigger near-term impact.”

“AI works best as an enabler for people and process — particularly in safety, quality, and risk identification.”

-  Finlay Lewis, Operations Manager of Renewables & Clean Power for Bechtel, at SolarConnections

In addition to driving external demand for solar, AI is also changing solar from the inside out. Experts examined how AI is reshaping energy development and the best use cases for its integration into team workflows. In “Leveraging Software, AI & Automation,” panelists provided these insights for how to use it wisely:

Main Takeaways

• AI is proving most valuable as an execution and risk-reduction tool, not as a replacement for people or process.

• Best use cases for AI include automating repetitive data tasks to free up more time for human-led strategy, analysis, and decision-making.

• AI helps accelerate mundane procedures for compliance, optimization, and documentation.

• High-impact applications include:

  • Safety analytics

  • Quality verification (pile placement, bolt verification, thermal scanning, etc.)

  • Risk identification from field and craft data

Especially as processing large volumes of data becomes a constraint for remote sites, EPCs and developers are encouraged to deploy AI where it reduces rework, safety risk, and schedule uncertainty.

“The volume of field data is exploding,” said Jason Evans, Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of ProScore Technologies. “AI helps make that information usable — not by replacing people, but by reducing rework and uncertainty.”

The future of energy will be shaped not by a single technology (although we clearly have a soft spot for solar!) but by economics, policy, infrastructure, and human judgment working together.

From SMRs to renewables, gas to grid modernization, the next decade will demand creativity, pragmatism, and collaboration across silos. The work ahead is hard — but the opportunity is historic.

We’re grateful to our speakers, partners, and attendees for contributing to an honest, forward-looking conversation — and we look forward to continuing it in 2026!

These challenges look different for every project. If you want to talk through what they mean in your market, connect with our team - we’d love to hear your thoughts!