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In its Largest Quarter Ever, U.S. Solar Market Saw Nearly 2 MW of PV Installed Per Hour in Q3 2016

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BOSTON, Mass. and WASHINGTON D.C. - The United States solar market just shattered all previous quarterly solar photovoltaic (PV) installation records. According to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) Q4 2016 U.S. Solar Market Insight report, 4,143 megawatts (MW) of solar PV were installed in the U.S. in the third quarter of the year, a rate of one MW every 32 minutes. That pace is even faster today, as the fourth quarter will surpass this past quarter’s historic total.

“Coming off our largest quarter ever and with an extremely impressive pipeline ahead, it’s safe to say the state of the solar industry here in America is strong,” said Tom Kimbis, SEIA’s interim president. “The solar market now enjoys an economically-winning hand that pays off both financially and environmentally, and American taxpayers have noticed. With a 90 percent favorability rating and 209,000 plus jobs, the U.S. solar industry has proven that when you combine smart policies with smart 21st century technology, consumers and businesses both benefit.”

The report points to an “unprecedented rate of project completion” in the utility-scale segment as a key growth driver. In fact, the utility-scale segment represented 77 percent of solar PV installed in the third quarter of the year. GTM Research anticipates that a massive 4.8 gigawatts (GW) of utility PV projects will come on-line in the fourth quarter of the year – that’s more than was installed across the entire utility PV segment in all of 2015.

“Driven by a large pipeline of utility PV projects initially procured under the assumption of a 2016 federal ITC expiration, the third quarter of 2016 represents the first phase of this massive wave of project completion – a trend that will continue well into the first half of 2017,” said Cory Honeyman, associate director of U.S. solar at GTM Research.

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PwC: 72% of corporate renewable energy leaders are actively pursuing more

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A recent survey of U.S.-headquartered businesses, the majority of which have been active in buying renewable energy, revealed that 72% of respondents are actively pursuing additional purchases.

The appetite among the respondents has grown significantly: 63% of companies have become more inclined to purchase renewable energy in the past six months, according to the survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Among those who have made a purchase in the past, an even larger majority — 85% — intend to make additional purchases in the next 18 months.

Calling the growth in corporate purchases one of the biggest developments in the renewable energy marketplace, PwC said it conducted the survey of 63 "major" commercial and industrial companies, most of which have large energy footprints and have made purchases in the past, to better understand what is driving the growth.

Not surprisingly, what PwC found was that business interest has been primarly driven by a desire to meet corporate sustainability goals and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; 85% of companies actively seeking more renewable energy cited this reason. Other popular drivers included attractive returns on investment, cited by 76% of respondents, and a desire by companies to limit their exposure to energy price variability, cited by 59% of respondents.

As for how the companies surveyed plan build out their portfolios of clean power, four-fifths are expect to use multiple types of transactions, an offsite power purchase agreement and an onsite financial investment, for example. The survey also found that while onsite PPAs remain most popular — chosen by 67% of those actively pursuing procurement — more than half, 58%, intend to purchase traditional offsite PPAs, and 30% plan to pursue offsite virtual PPAs. The responses also point to an increase in offsite versus onsite purchases, PwC said in a report outlining the findings.
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SOLAR PROGRESS REPORT ADVANCING TOWARD A CLEAN ENERGY FUTURE

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Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar, every panel pounded into place by a worker whose job can’t be outsourced.” President Barack Obama, January 2014

  1. S. Leadership in Solar Energy Solar energy is a vital component of the Administration’s all-of the above energy strategy. Supported by historic investments in research, development, and deployment, the price of solar technologies has decreased and the U.S. solar market has experienced rapid growth since President Obama took office. Last year was a record-breaking year for new solar installations, and the amount of solar power installed in the United States has increased nearly eleven fold – from 1.2 gigawatts in 2008 to an estimated 13 gigawatts today, which is enough to power more than 2.2 million American homes.

Last year, solar represented the second-largest source of new electricity capacity added to the grid – growth that underscores significant progress, including:

  • Steep Decline in Solar Technology Costs: Since the beginning of 2011, the average price of solar panels has dropped more than 60% and the price of a solar photovoltaic electric system has dropped by about 50%. Solar is now more affordable and more accessible for more American families and companies. In fact today, PV solar modules cost about 1 percent of what they did 35 years ago, and six of ten major U.S. homebuilders now offer PV as a standard available feature in new construction.
  • Deployment of Solar on Public Lands and Buildings: Five years ago, there were no commercial-scale solar energy projects on Department of Interior lands. Today, the Interior Department is on track to permit 20 GW of renewable energy projects on public lands by 2020; the Defense Department has set a goal to deploy three gigawatts of renewable energy – including solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal – on Army, Navy, and Air Force installations by 2025; and, as part of the Climate Action Plan, the Federal Government overall committed to sourcing 20% of the energy consumed in Federal buildings from renewable sources by 2020.
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FACT SHEET: Obama Administration Announces Clean Energy Savings for All Americans Initiative

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President Obama is committed to ensuring that every American family can choose to go solar and to cut their energy bills – and that every American community has the tools they need to tackle local air pollution and global climate change.

Since President Obama took office, solar electricity generation has increased 30 fold and solar jobs are growing 12 times faster than the rest of the economy. Last year, we announced a set of actions to increase access to solar and create a more inclusive workforce, but there is still more work to do. That is why, today, the Obama Administration is announcing a new cross government partnership – the Clean Energy Savings For All Initiative – between the Departments of Energy (DOE), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS), Veteran’s Affairs (VA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increase access to solar energy and promote energy efficiency across the United States and, in particular in low- and moderate- income communities.

Through the Clean Energy Savings for All Initiative, the Administration will work to ensure that every household has options to choose to go solar and put in place additional measures to promote energy efficiency. To continue along this track, the Administration, in collaboration with state agencies, is announcing a new catalytic goal to bring 1 gigawatt (GW) of solar to low- and moderate- income families by 2020. This goal is a 10 fold increase and an expansion of the initial target President Obama set in his Climate Action Plan to install 100 MW of renewable energy on federally-assisted affordable housing by 2020.  The Clean Energy Savings for All Initiative will help achieve the goal by promoting innovative financing mechanisms, bolstering technical assistance for states and communities, driving innovation, scaling up workforce training to make sure low- and moderate-income Americans can take advantage of the jobs that come with a transition to clean energy, convening stakeholders, and working with the private and philanthropic sectors. The key components of the initiative that the Administration is announcing today are:

  • HUD and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are releasing new guidance to unlock residential Property-Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing by outlining how properties with PACE assessments can be purchased and refinanced with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance and by welcoming the use of PACE financing for Veterans Affairs (VA)-insured mortgages. In addition, DOE is releasing a draft of their updated Best Practices Guidelines for Residential PACE Financing for public comment. PACE is a tool that allows American homeowners, including low- and moderate- income households and veterans, to finance solar and energy efficiency improvements at no upfront cost and to pay back the cost over time through their property tax bill;

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Small Solar Electric Systems

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A small solar electric or photovoltaic (PV) system can be a reliable and pollution-free producer of electricity for your home or office. Small PV systems also provide a cost-effective power supply in locations where it is expensive or impossible to send electricity through conventional power lines.

Because PV technologies use both direct and scattered sunlight to create electricity, the solar resource across the United States is ample for home solar electric systems. However, the amount of power generated by a solar system at a particular site depends on how much of the sun's energy reaches it. Thus, PV systems, like all solar technologies, function most efficiently in the southwestern United States, which receives the greatest amount of solar energy.

Because of their modularity, PV systems can be designed to meet any electrical requirement, no matter how large or how small. You can connect them to an electric distribution system (grid-connected), or they can stand alone (off-grid). You can also use PV technology to provide outdoor lighting.

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FACT SHEET: President Obama Announces Commitments and Executive Actions to Advance Solar Deployment and Energy Efficiency

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Private and Public Sector Commitments and Executive Actions Will Create Jobs and Cut Carbon Pollution

Today, President Obama announced more than 300 private and public sector commitments to create jobs and cut carbon pollution by advancing solar deployment and energy efficiency. The commitments represent more than 850 megawatts of solar deployed – enough to power nearly 130,000 homes – as well as energy efficiency investments that will lower bills for more than 1 billion square feet of buildings.  Additionally, the President announced new executive actions that will lead to $2 billion in energy efficiency investments in Federal buildings; smarter appliances that will cut carbon pollution by more than 380 million metric tons – equivalent to taking 80 million cars off the road for one year – and will save businesses nearly $26 billion on their energy bills; and training programs at community colleges across the country that will assist 50,000 workers to enter the solar industry by 2020. 

President Obama is committed to making 2014 a year of action and has pledged to use the power of his phone and his pen to expand opportunity for all Americans. Last month, the White House hosted a Solar Summit celebrating cross-sector leadership on solar and calling for commitments to support solar deployment and jobs through the expand use of solar in our homes, businesses, and schools.   The President has also called on private and public sector leaders to join the Better Buildings Challenge and continue improving the efficiency of American commercial, institutional, and multifamily buildings and industrial plants by 20 percent or more over ten years.

Today, leaders from the private and public sectors are answering the call. Altogether, more than 300 multifamily housing, homebuilder and home improvement, rural electric cooperative, commercial sector (including retailers, food service, and hospitality), and public sector (including states, cities, school districts) organizations are announcing commitments.