Solar PV installations in the USA jumped 85% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2011 according to a report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).
Commercial solar power installations were largely behind the surge, which saw a record 506 megawatts (MW) of PV capacity added during the first three months of this year; bringing total solar PV installed capacity across the USA to 4,427 MW.
“In states across the country, Americans are waking up to the realization that putting solar on your home or business is a better investment than the stock market,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA.
The soon to be released U.S. Solar Market Insight report pegs total solar PV installations during 2012 to exceed 3,200 megawatts – 75 percent more than last year and substantially higher than previous forecasts for 2012.
The rapidly decreasing cost of solar power stimulated uptake during Q1, with installed prices for residential solar panel systems falling 7.3 percent, commercial installed prices dropping 11.5 percent and utility-scale prices plummeting 24.7 percent compared to the first quarter in 2011.
New Jersey was the nation’s largest state market, with 174 megawatts of installations occurring between January and the end of March.
While confident of a stellar year for solar PV installations, GTM Research‘s Shayle Kann says the company is unsure of what lays ahead next year due to factors such as the impact of an expected import tariff on Chinese solar panels and the expiry of an important incentive program.
“However, we expect the U.S. market to regain momentum thereafter and continue along its path to become a global PV market leader by 2015,” said Mr. Kann.
US solar installation companies may enjoy a bumper year, but for the local solar module manufacturing industry, things aren’t looking so bright. In the first quarter of this year, U.S. solar panel production came to just 160 MW, compared to 335 megawatts in Q1 2011
