The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has released its annual report on the performance of the U.S. solar industry in 2013. As might be expected, the industry continued to set new milestones for growth in installed capacity. Highlights of the report include the following:
- 4,751 MW of new solar PV capacity were installed in the U.S. in 2013, which represents a 41% increase over 2012.
- Almost half of this growth occurred at the end of the year – 2,106 MW become operational in Q4 2013.
- Not surprisingly, the majority (although not an overwhelming majority) of new PV installations – 2,847 MW – were utility-scale projects.
- 2013 also saw 410 MW of concentrating solar power (CSP) come online (this figure does not include the 377 MW Ivanpah CSP project outside of Las Vegas that went operational in February 2014).
- The report forecasts 6,000 MW of PV installations to come online in 2014, and 840 MW of CSP installations.
- California continued to lead the way, with a whopping 2,621 MW of installed PV capacity in 2013. Following California were Arizona (421 MW), North Carolina (335 MW), Massachusetts (237 MW), and New Jersey (236 MW).
- Solar energy comprised 29% of all new U.S. electricity generating capacity in 2013, making solar the second largest source of new electricity in the country after natural gas.
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