U.S. Solar Power Continues to Show Marked Growth

The first quarter of 2014 was huge for solar energy in the U.S., increasing 79 percent from the first quarter totals of 2013.  In the first three months of this year, the combination of both homeowners and developers installed 1.33 gigawatts of solar panels.  Total installations are expected to climb to a whopping 6.6 gigawatts, with a surprising number being driven by the residential sector, (Ehren Goossens, Bloomberg News.)

Shayle Kann, VP of research at GTM Research in Boston, (who publishes the quarterly reports,) said that the economics of residential solar continue to get better, leading to the climb in numbers.  Just how high of a climb did the residential solar sector make?  The residential grouping scaled 38 percent to 232 megawatts, surpassing for the first time the commercial/government/non-profit sector, (which totaled 225 megawatts.)

As expected, utility-scale solar farms had the highest installation numbers at 873 megawatts.  They did show a huge growth this year as well though, compared to the 322 megawatts from the previous year.

To break it down even further within the U.S., 72 percent of all installations took place in California, adding up to 959 megawatts, followed by New Jersey and Arizona at 64 and 52 megawatts, respectively.  The staggering disparity clearly shows the imbalance of solar energy installation between the states.

Regardless of the disproportion of solar throughout the country, overall we are seeing considerable growth in the solar industry, and the rapid nature of the growth is quite incredible.  For more information on solar technology and how you can save on utilities, call one of our experts today at 913.310.0705, or check out our Renewable Energy page.

Source: Ehren Goossens, Bloomberg News