Top 10 States for Cumulative Grid-Connected
Installations
PV Capacity per person ( Watts-dc/person)
20. 8
20. 2
14. 6
13. 8
11. 8
7.0
5. 6
3. 7
3. 7
2. 7
4. 2
State
1. California
2. Hawaii
3. New Jersey
4. Nevada
5. Colorado
6. Arizona
7. Connecticut
8. Delaware
9. Oregon
10. Vermont
National Average
TABLE 3.
Top 5 States for Solar Hot Water Installations in
2008
State Capacity (megawatts-th)
1. Hawaii 42. 4
2. California 19. 8
3. Puerto Rico 17.1
4. Florida 15. 6
5. Arizona 5.0
All Others 55.0
Based on data supplied by the U. S. Energy Information Administration. Installations
include installations for space heating but do not include installations for pool heating.
watts per capita. (See table 2.) For 2009, both
Hawaii and New jersey installed more on a per-capita basis than California.
drive growth in U.S. solar water-heating installations. Hawaii accounted for 27 percent of the
solar water-heating installations in 2009. After
Hawaii, California, Puerto Rico, Florida and
Arizona lead the states in solar water-heating
installations. (See table 3.)
In other solar thermal sectors, pool-heating
installations decreased by 10 percent, the third
year of declines caused by weak real estate markets in California and Florida. As for concentrating solar power (CSP), 13. 5 MW of CSP projects were installed in 2009, compared with none
in 2008. Developers have proposed thousands of
megawatts of CSP plants, but the first of these
likely won’t come on line until 2011 or later.
july 2009, further slowing orders. In the last
half of 2009, federal incentive rules were clear,
credit markets improved and federal stimulus
funds began to flow. Although this improvement came too late for 2009 installations, it will
result in growth in the non-residential sector
in 2010.
Utility installations, defined here as installations for bulk power on the utility’s side of the
meter, tripled in 2009 and made up 15 percent
of the capacity of the grid-connected PV systems
installed in 2009. A 25-MWAC installation in Florida and a 21-MWAC installation in California were
the largest PV systems installed in 2009 and the
largest installations ever in the United States.
Solar Thermal Sees Modest Increase
The Solar Energy Industries Association esti-
mates the solar water-heating market increased
by 10 percent in 2009, compared with 40 per-
cent and 26 percent growth in 2008 and 2007,
respectively. The slight increase echoes the PV
market’s 2009 experience — growth, but more
modest than in previous years. (See Figure 2.)
the residential federal ItC and the
increased commercial ItC, together with rising conventional energy prices, continue to
California Holds on to Lead
In 2009, installations of grid-connected PV
systems were concentrated in California, New
jersey, Florida, Colorado and Arizona, as shown
in table 1 (page 47). The market more than
doubled in New jersey, Florida, Arizona, Massachusetts and texas. Florida is a new addition to
the top 10 list, largely due to its aforementioned
25-MWAC utility installation. After large single
installations in both 2007 and 2008, Nevada had
no similar projects completed in 2009 and fell
off the top 10 list. Of the states with more than 1
M W installed in 2009, only Nevada saw a decline
in the capacity of systems installed in 2009 compared with those installed in 2008.
Even with the largest population in the
country, California has the highest total capacity of installations per capita — a capacity that
is almost five times the national average of 4. 2
Source: IREC Analysis of Energy Information Administration Data (2002-2008), 2009 installations based on data received.
Pace Will Pick Up in 2010
What can we expect in U.S. solar markets this
year? Early indicators point to grid-connected
PV growth of 50 to 100 percent. The long-term
extension of the federal ItC, new rules that
allow electric utilities to use the ItC, the establishment of a grant alternative to the commercial ItC and federal stimulus spending will all
help drive market growth. In addition, improved
capital availability will allow customers to take
advantage of these financial incentives.
Companies have announced plans for many
large solar projects, including solar thermal electric projects, utility-owned projects and third
party-owned projects. Many of these projects will
be completed in 2010, and many more will start
construction in 2010 to take advantage of the federal cash grant program. Completion of these later
projects will likely occur between 2011 and 2013.
Electric utility announcements point to
growth in installations on the utility side of the
meter, producing bulk power for the electricity
grid. Utilities may install more than four times
the capacity of 2009 utility installations in 2010.
Many of these installations will be large arrays
owned by the utility or a third party. Others will
involve siting PV on residential or commercial
buildings.
Prices for PV modules fell throughout 2009,
and many analysts expect prices to continue
to fall in 2010. lower PV prices increase the
potential of installations in states without state
or local incentives. However, in 2010, installations will continue to be concentrated in states
with strong financial incentives and other
strong solar policies, which will remain critical
to market growth. ST
