SUN IN THE STATES

The Evolving Solar PV Landscape: The Changes That Lie Ahead

Christine Beadle, 2 August 2012 (Solar Industry)

“…During 2011, installed PV capacity reached the 2 GW level, with 880 MW allocated to the commercial sector and 760 MW to the utility segment…[despite challenges]…Over the next few years, utility-scale PV installations in the U.S. are set to grow substantially…[O]ver 24 GW of these projects are currently in the planning stages…

“It is likely that federal and state policies will ultimately dictate which locations are targeted most by PV developers. Although every state in the U.S. now boasts some level of commercial or utility PV capacity, California and New Jersey continue to dominate PV projects installed in the U.S…[but] over the period from 2010 to 2015…California’s share may decline to below 30%.”

click to enlarge

“Another interesting trend is that nearly 30% of all planned or installed PV projects in the U.S. now fall into the 1 MW to 5 MW category. In North Carolina, the PV landscape has been changing recently from PV installations at the 1 MW level to include several larger planned projects at the 5 MW level…[although] megawatt-scale PV…installations have recently been met with opposition from the general public, local councils or environmental groups…

“PV market segmentation remains highly diverse across the U.S…Although ground-mounted PV installations hold most of the capacity in the U.S, rooftop installations still account for almost half of the planned or installed U.S. PV projects…Large retailers are making significant commitments…[and] in areas where suitable locations for PV projects may be more difficult to find, new options are appearing…[such as] floating PV arrays…portable arrays…Building-integrated options…[and those on] capped landfills…”

Tweet