SEIA’s U.S. Solar Market Insight 2014 Year in Review
Proving that effective, forward-looking public policies can provide a big boost to a state’s economy, North Carolina had the second most new solar capacity added last year in the United States, according to the recently-released U.S. Solar Market Insight 2014 Year in Review. North Carolina stands poised to become the first state in the South to have 1 gigawatt (GW) of installed solar power. The Tar Heel state now has more installed solar capacity than Oregon and Washington combined, said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). North Carolina is a case study of how well solar power can works in the South, he said.
In 2014, North Carolina added 397 megawatts (MW) of solar electric capacity, bringing its total to 953 MW – just 47 MW short of cracking the 1 GW barrier. That’s enough clean, affordable energy to power more than 110,000 homes. The report went on to point out that North Carolina’s biggest solar gains came in utility-scale installations. Of the new capacity added, 390 MW were utility scale, 4 MW were residential and 3 MW were commercial. Together, these installations represented a $652 million investment in the state in 2014.
“North Carolina is a case study of how solar works as well on the East Coast as it does on the West Coast – with the Tar Heel State now having more installed solar capacity than Oregon and Washington combined,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “To put the state’s remarkable progress in some context, the 953 MW installed today in North Carolina is more than our entire country had installed by 2007. That’s an amazing achievement.”
Nevada Leads Southwest, 3rd in Nation in New Solar Installations
Cashing in as one of the sunniest states in America, Nevada had the third most new solar capacity added last year in the nation, according to the recently-released U.S. Solar Market Insight 2014 Year in Review, but actually jumped to No. 1 in the Southwest. “To put the state’s remarkable progress in some context, the 789 MW of solar installed today in Nevada is more than our entire country had installed by 2007,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
In 2014, Nevada added 339 megawatts (MW) of solar electric capacity, bringing its total to 789 MW. That’s enough clean, affordable energy to power more than 120,000 homes. The report went on to point out that Nevada’s biggest solar gains came in utility scale installations. Of the new capacity added, 318 MW were utility scale, 19 MW were commercial and 2 MW were residential. Together, these installations represented a $569 million investment in the state.
“To put the state’s remarkable progress in some context, the 789 MW of solar installed today in Nevada is more than our entire country had installed by 2007. That’s an amazing achievement,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “We congratulate Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Dean Heller and Gov. Brian Sandoval for working together in a bipartisan fashion to create thousands of clean energy jobs in Nevada, while also bolstering the state’s economy.”
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