Solar Surpasses Gas and Wind as Biggest Source of New U.S. Power

Authored by bloomberg.com and submitted by mvea
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Despite tariffs that President Trump imposed on imported panels, the U.S. installed more solar energy than any other source of electricity in the first quarter.

Developers installed 2.5 gigawatts of solar in the first quarter, up 13 percent from a year earlier, according to a report Tuesday from the Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research. That accounted for 55 percent of all new generation, with solar panels beating new wind and natural gas turbines for a second straight quarter.

Solar Slump U.S. installations are expected to be flat in 2018 as tariffs and tax reform drive up costs Source: Solar Energy Industries Association and GTM Research

The growth came even as tariffs on imported panels threatened to increase costs for developers. Giant fields of solar panels led the growth as community solar projects owned by homeowners and businesses took off. Total installations this year are expected to be 10.8 gigawatts, or about the same as last year, according to GTM. By 2023, annual installations should reach more than 14 gigawatts.

“Solar has become a common-sense option for much of the U.S., and is too strong to be set back for long, even in light of the tariffs,” SEIA Chief Executive Officer Abigail Ross Hopper said in a statement.

CaptainChaos74 on June 12nd, 2018 at 12:32 UTC »

Is this a complicated way of saying that solar power is growing faster than gas and wind?

DontMakeMeDownvote on June 12nd, 2018 at 12:30 UTC »

So much negativity in here. It's okay to be happy about good news. I know that may be a hard pill for some of you to swallow.

Thefbiman on June 12nd, 2018 at 12:29 UTC »

Yeah my local water filtration plant has been installing lots of solar panels .