The 2025 commercial and industrial (C&I) solar market forecast looks favorable, bolstered by corporations seeking to cut operational expenses and meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. Meanwhile, community solar has become the fastest-growing segment, enabling equitable access to renewable power for households and businesses that cannot install on-site systems.

Yet, despite this promising outlook, C&I solar developers and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firms will confront new headwinds in 2025, ranging from policy shifts, technological complexity, market uncertainties, skilled labor shortages, and high operations and maintenance (O&M) costs. Although the headwinds might seem daunting, C&I solar developers and EPCs can capitalize on these challenges with a blend of strategic foresight, technical savvy, and the right partnerships.

Below, we take a deeper look at the biggest challenges C&I solar stakeholders will face in 2025, along with proven strategies for overcoming them.

1. PV Module Quality and Reliability Concerns

Challenge: With many new solar manufacturers entering the market, some that produce budget solar panels or components, there’s been a spike in failures at the bill-of-material (BOM) level. C&I developers must remain vigilant about the long-term durability and performance of the PV modules they select.

Potential impact: Low-quality modules can diminish overall project returns due to more frequent maintenance needs, higher operational expenses, and lower energy yield.

Solution path: Prioritize partnerships with established manufacturers with proven track records of module bankability and third-party recognition for top performance. Trinasolar's Vertex N modules, lauded as "Top Performers" in the 2024 Reliability Scorecard, exemplify industry-leading reliability and performance. Vertex N excelled in all seven tests conducted by Kiwa PVEL, an extremely rare feat that underscores Vertex N’s superior power output, efficiency, and durability.

2. Skilled Solar Labor Shortage

Challenge: Soaring solar capacity is creating an industry-wide shortage of qualified installers, electricians, and project managers, with EPC firms competing harder for a finite pool of specialized workers.

Potential Impact: The skilled worker crunch is causing project timeline delays, increased labor costs, and disappointed customers. In some instances, unskilled workers can raise the possibility of costly and dangerous on-site mistakes.

Solution Path: EPCs and developers must prioritize workforce development and standardize best practices. A popular route for attracting qualified candidates has been working with local community colleges, labor unions, trade associations, and apprenticeship programs that combine on-the-job training with classroom instruction. The Trinahub partner portal also provides educational and technical training resources for solar workers to help mitigate on-the-job mistakes and reduce installation times.

3. Solar Project Financing Hurdles Amidst Policy Shifts

Challenge: Although public support for renewables remains strong and the solar industry has matured significantly in the past four years, the sector could see increased market volatility tied to federal regulatory reforms, policy shifts, and interest rate changes.

Potential Impact: The possible market volatility could create a tighter lending environment that introduces higher project financing costs and undercuts project economics, as some developers find it more difficult to secure low interest rates or attract equity partners.

Solution Path: Consider diversifying financing strategies by blending tax-equity partnerships, loan guarantees, and PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing or pivoting more aggressively toward power purchase agreements (PPAs) with strong investment-grade offtakers. However, staying up to date on evolving incentives for possible changes to federal or state-level tax credits and equity markets can be resource-intensive and burdensome. Trina’s Capital Solutions helps developers find capital partners, leverage relevant benefit adders or carve-outs, and mitigate the risk of dead deal costs.

4. Rising PV System Complexity and Costs

Challenge: Supply chain fluctuations, raw material price increases, and the expiration of the tariff moratorium will likely continue to push up costs for PV system balance-of-system (BOS) components. At the same time, many developers must contend with ballooning soft costs for permitting, inspections, and overhead as solar technology advancements accelerate and modern PV systems grow increasingly complex.

Potential Impact: Rising costs and complexity can mean smaller or even non-existent project margins and inflated PPA prices for purchasers.

Solution Path: EPCs and developers can unlock economies of scale using a one-stop-shop solution with pre-engineering design, streamlined procurement, and on-site training and support. The turnkey solar project approach cuts transaction costs and ensures consistent component sourcing and compatibility to reduce the time and expenses spent on procurement. Further, EPCs and developers can offset some BOS cost increases by delivering more power per square foot and lowering system-level LCOE by installing ultra-high-efficiency panels like Trinasolar’s Vertex N modules based on the innovative 210mm N-type TOPCon advanced technology platform.

5. Finding the Right Solar Partner

C&I solar EPCs and developers can skip this challenge by partnering with Trinasolar US and the TrinaPro total solar solution for access to:

1. Streamlined Procurement: A one-stop shop that reduces logistics and administrative burdens, consolidates component sourcing, and allows companies to dedicate more time to business development;

2. Widespread Component Compatibility: Pre-engineering system design that minimizes performance risks with highly compatible inverters, modules, racking, and other components, avoiding potential mismatches and reducing commissioning time;

3. Optimized System Performance: Unified technical support and design services that ensure that performance parameters—like string sizing, shading tolerances, and temperature coefficients—enhance energy yield; and

4. Lowered LCOE: Fewer design uncertainties, shorter project timelines, and advanced technologies like N-type TOPCon all contribute to reduced per-kWh costs over a project’s life by cutting BOS and CAPEX.

This year finds the C&I solar sector at a pivotal crossroads defined by rapidly changing trends, emerging disruptions, and untapped opportunities. The correct path will involve industry stakeholders unlocking new revenue streams and delivering higher-value projects by 

embracing proven innovations such as N-type TOPCon modules bundled in a total solar solution. 

Ready for more solar project opportunities, success, and value?

Contact our team to discover how we can help your company build a cleaner future today.

Download the TrinaPro Total Solar Solution informational brochure: Learn more about the key benefits of TrinaPro Total Solar Solution for C&I or community solar developers and EPCs.

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