US distributed solar generation grows

OREANDA-NEWS. December 03, 2015. US generation from small-scale solar projects has increased by a third from last year, according to government estimates.

Generation through September from small-scale distributed solar resources totaled 9.5TWh, nearly 30pc more than in the first nine months of 2014, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said yesterday in its Electric Power Monthly report.

Small-scale photovoltaic (PV) power accounted for 31pc of the 30.4TWh generated from all solar sources through September, including utility-scale and solar thermal projects.

California, with 4TWh, had the most generation from distributed solar from all states through September. New Jersey was second with 928GWh, followed by Arizona with 881GWh, Massachusetts 546GWh and Hawaii at 467GWh. The five states accounted for about 70pc of the US total from distributed solar. California is the leading state in terms of total solar capacity, with 3GW.

Policies in many of the top states encourage small-scale distributed solar, including rebates for residential solar systems and net metering, which allows system owners to receive credit for excess generation sold back to the grid.

Distributed solar systems average 5kW in size and tend to be located near or at the site where the power is consumed. The category is also referred to as behind-the-meter or customer-sited resources.

EIA estimates that output from all solar PV projects will grow to 47TWh by 2040, making up 5pc of US generation. Solar thermal will provide another 3TWh by 2040, EIA said in its most recent Annual Energy Outlook.