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The U.S. installed installing 1,354 megawatts of solar photovoltaics in Q3 2014 – an increase of 41 percent over the same period last year.
Q3 2014 is the nation’s second-largest quarter ever in terms of PV installations, bringing the country’s cumulative solar PV capacity to 16.1 gigawatts, plus an additional 1.4 gigawatts of concentrating solar power (CSP) capacity.
Solar represents 36 percent of the new capacity that came on-line in 2014 thus far. Up from 29 percent in 2013, and 9.6 percent in 2012.
The U.S. installed 825 megawatts of utility-scale projects, up from 540 megawatts in Q3 2013. This accounts for more than 50 percent of solar installed nation-wide.
However, America’s residential market exceeded 300 megawatts in a quarter for the first time in history – more than half of which total came on-line without any state incentive. Residential solar has shown growth in eighteen out of the past nineteen quarters with analysts predicting it will exceed non-residential market sectors in annual installations by 2017.
The non-residential market, however, has struggled in the face of incentive depletion in California and Arizona. Non-residential installations were down 3 percent over Q3 2013. However, analysts predict modest year-over-year growth for the non-residential market.
The U.S. is expected to install 6.5 gigawatts of PV in 2014 – an increase over the record-breaking 2013.
Want to check the numbers?
See: GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association U.S. Solar Market Insight report.
