(Reuters) – The U.S. will add an estimated 6.4 gigawatts (GW) of small-scale solar capacity in 2022, the most ever in a single year, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Monday.
Small-scale solar capacity has increased from 7.3 GW in 2014 to 39.5 GW in 2022, according to the US Department of Energy’s statistical division.
Small-scale solar – also called distributed solar or rooftop solar, refers to solar energy systems with a capacity of 1 megawatt (MW) or less, and accounted for approximately one-third of the country’s total solar capacity country.
The U.S. solar industry was expected to add a record 32 GW of production capacity this year, helped by investment incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act.
Hawaii has the highest small-scale solar penetration, at 541 watts per person, despite California having the largest small-scale solar capacity at 36%, according to the EIA.
New York and New Jersey — mid-Atlantic states with less year-round sunshine — have the second and third largest small-scale solar capacity, respectively, although sunny Texas and Arizona have closed the gap in recent years, the agency said. said.
(Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
