It would appear that Americans have cottoned on in a big way to the benefits of having solar panels installed as a record number of people decided to have them installed last year. This resulted in solar panels being the quickest growing energy source in the United States. Nowadays, you only have to walk down a street in America and look up to someone’s roof to see solar panels installed.
Solar Panels
(image credit: Dave Dugdale)
In 2012, 3.3 gigawatts of solar panelling were installed equating to a staggering 16 million solar panels. This information is based upon a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research.
Interestingly, a big coal or nuclear plant is capable of producing around one gigawatt so the number of solar panels that were installed equated to over three times that figure – a huge achievement. In fact, the 3.3 gigawatt was greater than a combination of the previous three years. When compared with 2011, the growth was an impressive 76%.
California alone saw one gigawatt of solar panels being installed with New Jersey and Arizona in hot pursuit installing solar panels producing hundreds of megawatts. In the last quarter of 2012, there were 1.3 gigawatts of solar panelling installed resulting in a record-breaking performance.
So, what do you think was the reason why so many solar panel systems were installed in 2012 in the United States of America? Quite simply, it was the price that had witnessed a significant drop. Furthermore, solar panel installers are offering finance deals towards the cost of installations that are ably supported by the states that are offering incentives.
It is forecast that solar panel growth is expected to continue with 2013 expected to see the installation of 4.3 gigawatts resulting in a 29% increase when compared with 2012.
These figures do make very interesting reading and it will be worth monitoring the data that becomes available for this year which we shall cascade to you.
