The Growth and Dynamics of Solar Energy in the United States

The solar energy market in the US has experienced substantial growth driven by decreasing costs and supportive policies. Market size includes residential, commercial, and utility-scale installations. Tracking market trends, policy changes, and investment patterns provides insights into the dynamic solar industry. For updates and analyses on the current state of the solar energy market in the United States, check out my Quora profile.

Solar Energy Consumption in the US

While solar energy consumption in the US has increased, it currently accounts for only about 1.4% of the total energy consumption. Fossil fuels contribute to 79%, and nuclear energy contributes to 9%. Although wind energy is around 3%, overall energy consumption is increasing, but the industrial base is decreasing. This reduction in industrial activity will likely reduce overall energy consumption, potentially leveling the playing field for renewable energy sources.

International Solar Manufacturing

No, for several reasons, the solar industry in the US is not leading in manufacturing due to various environmental and regulatory issues. The processes involved in mining, leaching, and smelting the minerals required for solar technology are highly toxic and would never be permitted in the United States. These processes are almost entirely handled in the Far East, where labor and environmental regulations are less stringent.

Renewable Energy Source Growth in the US

One telling approach to the solar data is comparing solar generation with other notable generation sources. While some states generate a majority of their electricity from a single fuel source, such as Rhode Island’s 92% reliance on natural gas and West Virginia’s 93% reliance on coal, the majority of states rely on a mix of energy sources.

As of 2008, solar was not even among the top two most prominent renewable energy sources in any state. However, as the following maps show, this has changed in the years since. Among the six renewable energy sources tracked by the EIA—hydroelectric, wind, solar, geothermal, wood, and wood-derived fuels, and other biomass—solar power went from the least prevalent across the United States to the third most prominent behind only hydroelectric and wind. Statesrsquo; reliance on solar power increased significantly:

41 states had no solar generation in 2008 to just 5 in 2017. 1 state where solar was present but below all other renewable sources in 2008 to 0 in 2017. 3 states where solar was the fifth most common renewable source in 2008 to 11 in 2017. 4 states where solar was the fourth most common renewable source in 2008 to 16 in 2017. 1 state where solar was the third most common renewable source in 2008 to 9 in 2017. 0 states where solar was the second most common renewable source in 2008 to 7 in 2017. 0 states where solar was the most common renewable source in 2008 to 3 in 2017.

Given that 6 states rely on renewable energy generation sources for a majority of their electric power sectors and 16 get at least a quarter of their total energy mix from renewables, solar’s rise in the renewable ranks is significant. Renewable energy is becoming critical to the grids across the nation, and solar is an increasingly vital part of that push.

State-Specific Solar Growth in the Electric Power Sector

Examining which states have seen their solar power grow most quickly in the electric power sector provides important insights into different regions of the country. The top 45 states (excluding the 5 with no solar in 2017) in absolute generation growth over the past 5, 10, and 20 years can be ranked as follows:

These different windows of time are typically useful for examining how trends have changed over the years. However, these three maps demonstrate that the ranking of growth remains mostly uniform over the different time periods—33 of the 45 states don’t move more than three spots in the rankings between time periods. Two factors contribute to this trend:

The early solar adopters got ahead of the learning curve by entering the market a decade or two before many other states. The top 4 states (Arizona, California, North Carolina, and Nevada) over the different time periods account for over two-thirds of total solar growth and were each among the first 10 states with electric power sector solar generation, which got the ball rolling early and kept them in the lead. Almost 92% of solar generation growth in utilities across the nation has come online since 2012, so the states that added the most over that 5-year period are mathematically also the states that added the most over the 10-year and 20-year periods as well.

These facts are compelling proof of the quite recent nature of solar growth and the further room solar still has to grow in the electric power sector.

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