US Solar Smashes Records with 95 Per Cent Growth

The United States solar market nearly doubled in 2016, topping out at 14,625 MW of new solar installed. According to the latest report from GreenTech Media and the Solar Electric Industry Association (SEIA), the US is now home to more than 1.3 million solar PV installations with a capacity of over 40 GW. That’s enough to power 8.3 million households—which would light up every home in New York City.

home in New York City. Even at a $22.8 billion valuation, the American solar sector is relatively small—but it is also strong. Solar’s average annual growth over the past decade has been 68 per cent and the industry fuels an economic engine that employs more than 260,000 Americans across 9,000 solar businesses. Although top solar states still lead by a landslide in total capacity installed, they have paved the way for new markets with a record of 22 states that have added more than 100 MW of capacity in 2016. Not only is solar generation more evenly spread across the country, new installations are outpacing all other sources of electricity. For the first time ever, solar ranked as the number one source of new electric generating capacity in the US and accounted for 39 per cent of new capacity additions across all fuel types.

Source: https://www.terrasmart.com/u-s-solar-smi-preview/