So this is actually pretty huge news.
It is projected that there will be an additional 14.5 gigawatts of new solar added by the end of the year. This is an incredible 94 percent increase over last year.
Also, the SEIA website has some real interesting data. For instance:
Q1 2016 Solar Market Update: Key Takeaways
7.5 GW of solar installed in 2015
Over 29 GW of total solar capacity installed [So, we’re expecting to see a 50% increase in our total solar capacity by the end of the year.-RCS]
Solar prices dropped 3% in 2015 from 2014
The cost to install solar has dropped by more than 70% over the last 10 years, leading the industry to expand into new markets and deploy thousands of systems nationwide.
Solar has reached 1% of roral [“total”?-RCS] generation
Up from 0.1% just 5 years ago [!]
Expected to hit 3.5% by 2020
The amount of solar installed at U.S. corporations and businesses is enough to offset 890,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year
According to data from Brighter Future: A Study on Solar in U.S. Schools, a report published by the Solar Foundation with support from SEIA, there are nearly 4,000 K-12 schools in the United States with active solar systems, meaning more than 2.7 million American students attend solar schools. The report also found that thousands of other schools could save money by going solar.
Nearly 209,000 Americans work in solar - more than double the number in 2010 - at more than 8,000 companies in every U.S. state. By 2020, that number will double to more than 420,000 workers.
Apparently a big part of progress has been due to a variety of groups, including the US Dept of Energy and its “Sunshot Initiative.”
SunShot funds cooperative research, development, demonstration, and deployment projects by private companies, universities, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour or $1 per watt (not including incentives). We work to make it faster, easier, and more affordable for Americans to choose solar energy in their daily lives.
Also love from the graph that almost no coal or gas energy plants are going up this year so far. A nice change from 60% merely 5 years ago, or even 30% just last year! I don’t know if that pattern will hold throughout the year (gawd, I hope so), but with climate change becoming a reality, the world beginning to take stronger action on climate change, and as the article notes, the falling costs of solar, I could well imagine gas and coal falling off the new energy radar real quick.
Oh, and a huge chunk of the growth of Solar energy isn’t coming from Big Energy, but from residential installations. Around 30%! Daaaamn.
On a related note, Tesla just put in a bid to buy SolarCity - a solar giant that is kinda going under bc it overextended itself. Just imagine what life could be like with Tesla offering solar panels, energy storage (”powerwall”), and energy efficient products (e.g. their cars).
It’s great fucking times for solar!
kaledo-art
stormborns
yousharknotpass
dededos
jacobvanloon
izzy806
gummygunk