Solar Market has Record Year

by | Mar 5, 2014

This article is included in these additional categories:

SolarMarketThe US solar industry shattered records in 2013, adding 4,751 MW.

According to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) Solar Market Insight Year Solar Market Insight Year in Review 2013, photovoltaic (PV) installations continued to proliferate, increasing 41 percent over 2012 to reach 4,751 megawatts (MW). In addition, 410 MW of concentrating solar power (CSP) came online. Solar was the second-largest source of new electricity generating capacity in the US, exceeded only by natural gas. Additionally, the cost to install solar fell throughout the year, ending the year 15 percent below the mark set at the end of 2012. The US installed 2,106 megawatts in the fourth quarter alone, 44 percent of the annual total.

California continues to lead the US market and installed more than half of all solar in 2013.

GTM Research and SEIA forecast another strong year in 2014 with 26 percent growth in the US solar market. This will bring annual installations up to nearly 6 gigawatts and the cumulative total will be just shy of the 20-gigawatt milestone.

Other findings:

• The U.S. installed 4,751 MW of solar PV in 2013, up 41 percent over 2012 and nearly fifteen times the amount installed in 2008. • There is now a total of 12.1 GW of PV and 918 MW of CSP operating in the US • There were 140,000 individual solar installations in the US in 2013, and a total of over 440,000 systems operating in total today. • Q4 2013 was by far the largest quarter ever for PV installations in the U.S. with 2,106 MW energized, up 60 percent over the next largest quarter (Q4 2012).

 

Additional articles you will be interested in.

Stay Informed

Get E+E Leader Articles delivered via Newsletter right to your inbox!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Share This