Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables and the Solar Energy Industries Association have released numbers showing there now are more than 2 million solar installations in the U.S., according to www.cnbc.com. Installations hit the 2 million mark three years after hitting 1 million; it took the industry 40 years to reach the 1 million mark.
SEIA reports California was responsible for 51 percent of the first million installations and 43 percent of the second million. It explained this reduction largely resulted from a residential sector that was growing and "rapidly diversifying across state markets." States such as Texas, Rhode Island, Florida, Utah and Maryland helped drive growth.
SEIA CEO Abigail Ross-Hopper says the organization believes "the 2020s will be the decade that solar becomes the dominant new form of energy generation."
Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables predicts installations will reach 3 million in 2021 and 4 million in 2023.
"According to our latest forecasts, by 2024 there will be, on average, one solar installation per minute," said Michelle Davis, senior solar analyst at Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables, in a May 9 statement. "That's up from one installation every 10 minutes in 2010."
