**Status:**Published
**Citation:**Young, D; Bistline, JET; Cole, W; Mai, T. 2021. The Outlook for Wind and Solar Deployment: Drivers and Constraints. Published in EM Magazine, a copyrighted publication of the Air & Waste Management Association, May 2021.
Lower investment costs for wind and solar, and expectations for continuing cost declines, have many forecasting high variable renewable deployment1 in the United States, even without further policy support. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have conducted energy-economic modeling indicating that wind and solar generation could make up more than 50% of U.S. generation before 2050. This article summarizes the key learnings from this research, finding that the pace of future deployment will be dictated by economic factors. However, ongoing deployment will also depend on overcoming technological and regulatory hurdles.
Link to Journal Publication: See EM Magazine