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
- 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.
Continue Reading