THE PRESENT STATUS OF SOLAR POWER GENERATION IN THE UNITED STATES

摘要

In recent years, the solar energy market in the United States has been experiencing a continuous growth through the support of various federal and state government policies. For example, federal ITCs, state RPSs, and net metering provide ways for customers to develop affordable solar electricity. The U.S. solar energy market is divided into three categories (residential, non-residential, and utility), mainly made up by 20 states. Of this number, 10 states contribute approximately 90 percent of the nationwide PV installation capacity. The year 2015 realized the fourth consecutive residential PV market annual growth rate greater than 50 percent, with six states (Arizona, California, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, and North Carolina) having more than 1 GW direct current in cumulative solar capacity. The state of California alone has contributed nearly 50 percent of new annual residential PV installations. The utility PV market, a fundamental contributor to the growth of the whole solar energy market, accounted for 57 percent of the total solar PV installation capacity in 2015. North Carolina and California are the two states with an annual addition of more than 1 GW direct current of utility PV installations in 2015. With the exception of California, the non-residential solar market in the rest of the country showed a stagnant picture due to the lack of incentive funding and large-scale solar energy development projects.