Last year was a bumper year for solar. Globally, photovoltaics (PV) installations grew 34%, with the addition of 59 Giga Watts in 2015. While solar PV installations in China may have exhibited significant growth, so too did installations in the U.S.
Indeed, the solar industry in the U.S. enjoyed yet another record-breaking year. With solar PV installations increasing some 16.63% from the 6,247 megawatts (MW) installed in 2014, installations in 2015 reached 7,286 MW in 2015.
According to GTM Research and the Solar Industries Association in the U.S., «solar beat out natural gas capacity additions, with solar supplying 29.5% of all new electric generating capacity in the U.S. in 2015». The leading states were California, North Carolina, Nevada, Massachusetts and New York.
Solar PV Installations in the U.S.
2006-2015 (MW)
Source: Solar Energy Industries Association
About the Author:
Thomas Butcher is an independent writer, researcher and consultant focusing, amongst other things, on strategic materials, in particular metals. With 37 years of experience in the financial world, he has lectured and spoken at conferences around the world. Amongst other things, he writes the “Letter from North America” in the Minor Metals Trade Association's bi-monthly publication The Crucible, and was lead author of the chapter on gallium (used in semiconductors) in the British Geological Survey's Critical Metals Handbook.
The article above is an opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of MV Index Solutions or its affiliates.