Dive Brief:
- California installed more than 700 MW of solar capacity in the first quarter of this year, raising the state's total solar potential to 10,649 MW — enough power for almost 2.6 million homes.
- According to a new report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association, the bulk of additions were utility scale (399 MW), followed by residential (231 MW).
- California's first quarter solar advances represent $1.7 billion in investment, the report says.
Dive Insight:
California has become the first state to surpass 10 GW of installed solar capacity, according to the U.S. Solar Market Insight Report. The paper from GTM and SEIA shows the state has more solar assets the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Australia and Belgium.
“When it comes to creating clean energy jobs and protecting the environment, California is showing the world how to get the job done,” Rhone Resch, SEIA president and CEO, said in a statement. “To put the state’s remarkable progress in some context, today California has 10 times more installed solar capacity than the entire nation had in 2007."
Stable and effective public policy in California has allowed the industry to grow, Resch said, such as the solar Investment Tax Credit, Renewable Portfolio Standards and Net Energy Metering.
The state 's first quarter installation numbers got a boost this year, as the Desert Sunlight project, developed by First Solar and located in the Mojave Desert, was completed. The project has the capacity to generate 550 MW, enough to power 160,000 California homes.
SEIA also noted that the residential market is flourishing: installed system prices dropped 4% year-over-year and were about half what they were in 2010.
"The upswing in residential installations is expected to continue in the foreseeable future, especially in light of a recent report by the California Energy Commission, which shows that more than a quarter of all new homes being built in Southern California are being constructed with solar energy systems," SEIA said.
At the moment more than 2,200 solar companies are operating in the state.
