Solar Power Use In The Us
Solar s abundance and potential throughout the united states is staggering.
Solar power use in the us. Residential installations were down 23 from q1 to q2 2020 due largely to shelter in place orders during the initial stages of the covid 19 pandemic that imposed restrictions on selling. Installed 3 5 gigawatts gw of solar pv capacity in q2 2020 to reach 85 gw of total installed capacity enough to power 16 1 million american homes. Solar industry is helping to pave the way to a cleaner more sustainable energy future. In 2010 data showed that 25 of the nation s energy originates from petroleum 22 from coal and 22 from natural gas.
4 pv can also be installed on rooftops with essentially no land use impacts. The golden state generated more than 37 percent of the u s. Nuclear energy supplied 8 4 and renewable energy supplied 8 mainly from hydroelectric dams and biomass. Solar power in the united states includes utility scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation mostly from rooftop photovoltaics as of the end of 2019 the united states had over 71 3 gigawatts gw of installed photovoltaic capacity.
It probably comes as no surprise that california ranks first among states in generating electricity from solar power. The figures come from the latest u s. Hit 1 million solar installations at the end of february amounting to roughly 27 2 gigawatts of solar power capacity according to the solar energy industries association seia a trade. Solar market insight report from wood mackenzie power and renewables and the seia.
Over the past few years the cost of a solar energy system has dropped significantly helping to give more american families and business access to affordable clean energy. Concentrating solar thermal power csp is the other method for. The data for states is current through the second quarter of 2018. Pv panels on just 0 6 of the nation s total land area could supply enough electricity to power the entire united states.
The tremendous growth in the u s. In 2018 utility scale solar power generated 66 6 terawatt hours twh 1 66 of total u s.